More Than A Legend
by FlikFreak
Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...
1. The Old Temple

I must be insane for having so many active fics. Those of you that are fans of _Playing for Keeps_, rest assured that I AM still working on it. This plot bunny nipped at my heels and I couldn't let it go, so here it is. I also have this posted on my deviantart account in case any of you were wondering.

EDIT: Changed Sora's last name.

Summary: AU. Sora always took great interest in the ancient legends of the islands around his home, and constantly daydreamed about them. He gets more than he expects, however, when he finds himself in the middle of one of the greatest legends of all: the Legend of the Keyblade.

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter One: The Old Temple**

* * *

Sora was visiting the temple again. Specifically, the one at the far end of the island that no one ever went to anymore. It was old and crumbling, but then again it had existed for centuries if he wasn't wrong. Not that Sora was an expert on old ruins, but he could only guess that upon looking at how worn the place was. Even so, he never dared to go inside, let alone go up the stairs, from fear that the majestic image of the temple might crumble around him, and the majestic image of it – as well as whatever mysteries it might have held – would be lost. Many of Sora's friends ridiculed him for taking interest in such a sight, but he had always been curious about the place ever since that one day when he had stumbled through the woods on his way home when he was but a child. He had been enchanted by it ever since.

"C'mon, Sora, we're ganna be late for school."

"Coming," Sora called back to his friend, whom was behind the bushes. With one last bow, Sora made his way through the foliage blocking off the overgrown gravel path. Once outside, he mounted his bicycle and pulled a few twigs that had become stuck in his messy, spiked brunette hair. Vibrant blue eyes glanced around until he found his friend sitting nearby. "Sorry, Riku."

Riku only sighed and shook his head, shoving a few strands of long silver hair out of his face, turquoise eyes half-glaring at Sora. "I don't see why you like this place so much. It's just an old temple that no one really cares about anymore."

"_I_ care about it," Sora retorted, beginning to pedal his bike down the street. Riku was right next to him. As they travelled down the road, backpacks strapped on their shoulders and wind whistling in their ears, Sora tried to keep in mind every vague detail about the temple: the bushes that surrounded the area around it, the gravel road that was being overgrown by the soft monkey grass, the steps leading up to the beige temple made of stone, and the darkened interior just past the front archway. The walls on either side of the entrance must have had something carved into them, but they had long been weathered away and were no longer discernable. He couldn't explain it, but something about that temple just…drew him in. Like he should go in deeper. Every day, he promised himself that he'd go and explore it, but Sora didn't get along well with the dark. One of these days, he'd go and fetch the flashlight out of his father's utility drawer and gather up enough guts to go inside…

It wasn't long before the school building came in sight. Sora's high school, appropriately named Destiny Islands High School, wasn't very big or fancy: the red paint was peeling off the sides of the walls outside, and though it had two stories and a small library, there were no "commons" to eat lunch in, nor a cafeteria, so everyone usually brought their lunch and ate either in the school yard or around the athletics field…which consisted of basic exercise equipment strewn about and a track that surrounded an old, disused soccer field. In spite of all this, Destiny Islands High had the best high school blitzball team. It was a wonder the school board never used the money to repair the building or buy new equipment.

By the time Sora and Riku reached school, the first bell was about to ring. They chained their bikes to the bike racks and quickly headed off for homeroom. Sora had been blessed to have the same homeroom as his friends, since the homeroom teacher he was stuck with was rather intimidating. If something went wrong, he had backup.

Mr. Dilian stood, reading the role call quickly. While everyone answered, Sora found himself staring out the window at the path outside. _Today,_ he told himself for the umpteenth. _This time, I'm really going in._ He began to dream of the many things that could be in the temple that were just waiting to be discovered.

"Kagi, Sora."

Hearing his name called, Sora snapped to attention. "Here!" he cried.

The entire class stared blankly at him, and Mr. Dilian only shook his head. "Wandering around in the bushes before school again, I see," he said, sounding highly disappointed.

Sora winced, unconsciously brushing across his hair with one hand and noting that he had missed a few leaves and twigs. His clothes were also a bit messy and had a few burs on them from the bushes. Sighing in defeat, he went back to staring out the window. Only when the bell rang again did he rouse from his stupor and head to class for yet another boring day of pointless education.

* * *

By the time third hour rolled around – which was, coincidently, his favorite class – Sora was wide awake. They had a rather decent teacher; Ienzo was young but very intelligent. He had come from a family of archaeologists, so history seemed like a wonderful place for him to be in the realm of teaching. He even seemed to enjoy it more than anything else; Sora had noted that whenever he saw Ienzo anywhere else, he was rather anti-social and didn't really talk to anyone. The way the classroom was decorated seemed to reflect his love for all things old: there were posters of old ruins and artifacts scattered around the walls, the desks were the old-fashioned type where the part of the desk that you would use to write on was on the back of the seat belonging to the person in front of you.

"Greetings, class," Mister Ienzo began. The class returned the gesture, Sora most of all, and he pulled out an old book. "Please open your textbooks to chapter three, please."

Sora reached into his backpack and pulled out the old, battered textbook appropriately titled "Ancient History" and placed it on his desk, flipping until he found the chapter appropriate and pulling his highlighter out of his pencil pouch. He marveled at the images portrayed on the pages, as several of them were old temples and shrines. Ienzo had a different way of teaching the class than the others in the school, and started far back in the islands' past.

"We'll be learning about some of the more famous temples of the islands today," Ienzo began. "Centuries ago, there was a small cult known as the Seekers. They believed that light and darkness were two intangible forces that were two sides of the same coin rather than enemies. They also believed that these forces could be made tangible and harnessed for limitless power, and erected several temples for unknown purposes, though many of them believed they could harness that power through whatever instruments they hid within their constructs, which you will see on page ninety-four."

Sora quickly flipped to the appropriate page, noticing the images provided. The temples in question were large and usually in very low or concealed places. One had been built in the chamber of a large cavern. _For crazy people, they sure had good architecture,_ he thought to himself.

Ienzo continued. "There was, however, another society bent on stopping the Seekers. These people were known as Chasers. While they were a rather small group, the Chasers were very well respected by the people, and were sworn enemies of the Seekers. No one is quite certain who formed either group, or why they clashed so violently, but several of the temples found were either entirely inaccessible or considered too derelict to investigate properly."

Tentatively, Sora raised his hand. When Ienzo acknowledged him, he spoke. "You said that the two groups 'clashed violently,' right? Does that mean some sort of war broke out?"

"Correct," Ienzo said, smiling ever-so-slightly. "Historians have guessed that the Chasers had found something that the Seekers had not, and determined the Seeker's endeavors to be highly dangerous, and tried to stop them, but it never explains why such harsh battles were held over simple beliefs. Most battles broke out spontaneously near the temples or simply on the streets where many civilians were at risk. The conflict between the two sides lasted for two years." There was another pause as a girl in the classroom – one with curled brunette hair, raised her hand. The teacher nodded to her. "Yes, Miss Tilmitt?"

"If a conflict between groups was so big," she asked, "Why did it only last two years? I mean, the Destiny Islands Civil War lasted two decades."

Sora, while he was interested in the answer to this question, rolled his eyes. He never liked Selphie very much; she seemed more interested in the academic part of the class rather than the thrill of discovery.

Ienzo nodded at her. "A good question, Miss Tilmitt. The Seekers had been around for several years before the Chasers were formed, but the two groups only fought a few years after that. Researchers suggest that the Chasers had tried to negotiate something with the Seekers and things had gotten out of hand, and so the two groups fought for unknown reasons

"The most pivotal battle was on the Island of Light, an island I'm sure many of you are familiar with." Ienzo's eyes flickered toward Sora and his friends briefly. "The Chasers and Seekers were in the midst of battle when one of the Seekers turned traitor and demolished the surrounding area, resulting in the cliffs around the battlefield crumbling down and burying many of the Seekers. The Chasers apparently had a forewarning and managed to come out mostly unscathed, save for one of their members. The Seekers were annihilated, and the Chasers claimed victory. Since then, the temples erected by the Seekers have been completely abandoned."

* * *

"You sure you wanna go in there? It might be a Seeker temple."

Sora let go of the bar he was using for pull-ups and hopped to the ground, letting Riku have his turn. "Why not?" he said. "If it _is_ a Seeker temple, then no one else will have been in there before me."

Riku rolled his eyes as he pulled his chin over the bar again. "That's because they're afraid the place might collapse on top of their heads."

"So what?" Sora teased. "Mister Ienzo said that the Seekers were looking for a way to harness the powers of light and darkness. What if that's what the temples were for or something? Besides, if no one else has really been inside, I'll be the first and get bragging rights over _everyone_!"

"You won't have bragging rights if you're _dead_," Riku grumbled, clearly annoyed with Sora's fantasies. He hopped off of the pull-up bar and allowed the next in line to have a turn as he and Sora made for the bleachers. The girl's PE class had the track for the day, so Coach Aeleus had the boys go through basic exercises.

The bleachers were one of the few things in the old school that was taken care of, but even then it had a few spots of rust here and there. Sora and Riku chose a spot near the top to get a good view on what the girls were doing down below, and after a while of sitting and watching they were joined by the school's most well-known blitzball players: Tidus and Wakka.

"Hey guys!" Tidus called from below as he hopped up the steps. "Done with pull-ups already?"

"Yeah," Riku replied. "How 'bout you two?"

"It was nothin'," Wakka replied, grinning. "We got a game comin' up this Saturday, ya? We're ready for anything."

"Who're we playing against?" Sora asked, mostly to sound like he wasn't bored to death. He didn't have much interest in blitzball, though he was decently athletic himself, but he knew enough to hold a conversation on it.

Tidus rolled his eyes, the grin wiped off his face faster than a popped soap bubble. "Zanarkand Academy," he grumbled. Sora made an "o" with his mouth and nodded. From what he had gathered, Zanarkand Academy was the school's 'rival' in terms of blitzball. Sora himself never understood why, but he went along with it anyway. Pep rallies were still a fun excuse to skip chemistry with Mr. Even (whom was probably one of the creepiest teachers in the school).

While Riku held a conversation with Tidus and Wakka on all things pertaining to sports, Sora allowed his eyes to travel to the track where the girls were running. Kairi Denset, an orphan adopted by the mayor (whom was also the principal of the school), was at one of the outdoor sinks wetting a towel and wiping the sweat off of her face and shoving back several locks of deep red hair. Sora and Riku had been good friends with her ever since she arrived on the islands, having been mysteriously found on the sea shore. They never brought up the subject with her – as she was never quite fond of talking about it, and had no memory of it anyway – and Sora had found that she was quite an impeccable artist.

"Hellooooo? Earth to Sora?"

Sora snapped out of his daze to see Riku staring at him. "Huh? What?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I was telling Tidus and Wakka here about how you plan on going into those ruins."

"Oh, yeah!" Sora exclaimed, his eyes lighting up in excitement. "I'm ganna try and see if I can sneak out tonight and head in. This time, for real."

"You serious, man?" Wakka asked, looking worried. "That thing is fallin' apart. You could get hurt."

"I doubt he'll go in," Tidus reassured Wakka. "It'll probably fall apart the moment he puts his foot on the first step."

Sora crossed his arms. "What, are you guys scared?"

Riku sighed. "Scared for your safety," he grumbled. "Sora, I know you're excited, but couldn't you at least keep away from there?"

"No," Sora replied firmly. "I'm going in. I wanna know what's in there, and no one else has looked."

Tidus gave a teasing smile to the silver-haired boy sitting next to Sora. "You can't change his mind at this point, Riku," he said. "You know how Sora is."

_I'm only sitting right here,_ Sora grumbled inwardly, but his face portrayed a prideful grin.

* * *

_Light and darkness…two opposing forces that have always coexisted. If that power is harnessed properly, the wielder would be unstoppable. Such power is capable of bringing either salvation or destruction at the whim of the user. That is why it must _never_ fall into the wrong hands…_

* * *

The day went by far too slowly for Sora's taste. At lunch, he had sat down with Riku, Tidus and Wakka and discussed their plans (or rather, Sora's plans) to infiltrate the temple. Their parents all were fine with school night sleepovers, so they could head out and make their way to the temple without any problems. The only exception was Tidus, whom lived only with his late-working mother, so he'd have to leave her a note. When school finally ended, Sora headed straight home, pedaling quickly along the path home. Upon arrival, he fished his keys out of his pocket and opened the door, wheeling his bicycle inside.

"How was school, Sora?" a familiar feminine voice called.

Sora was so busy with his mind on his planned excursion that he hardly thought to reply. "It was fine," he said, toeing open the kickstand and setting his bike in its usual spot behind the couch. "I'm ganna sleep over at Riku's house tonight, 'kay?"

"That's fine," Sora's mother replied absently. "Your father is going to head out to watch the game at the pub tonight, so I won't be cooking anyway."

"Thanks!" Sora replied, heading up to his room. It was a valid enough excuse to use, and he had used it many time before when he and Riku went on secret outings.

One occasion came to mind when they went to spend the night on the Island of Light, the smallest island in the chain. They had gathered their sleeping bags and had an all-nighter in the cave that they had found while they were really young. Riku had always expressed interest in it because of the strange door inside, and it simply felt peaceful there. From what Sora had learned today, he knew that the very same cave they favored was part of a great battle that ended a war between two small yet powerful factions. To think, they had drawn so many pictures all over the rocks. Hopefully the ghosts of those that had fallen there wouldn't be angry with them now that he knew.

If ghosts existed.

Sora tossed his backpack onto his bed, putting off his homework and searching for whatever he would need to explore the ruins. He'd get the flashlight on the way out. As hard as he thought, he couldn't come up with anything, and instead changed out of his school clothes and into a more comfortable outfit to wear: a red pair of pants connected with a matching shirt, his black-and-white short sleeved hooded jacket, a ridiculously large pair of yellow shoes, his favorite pair of white fingerless gloves, a blue belt adorned with a chain designed with crown-shapes, and a crown chain pendant around his neck. The pendant was an important part of his attire, as he had found it in the secret cave on his first visit, lying right next to the mysterious wooden door. For the life of him, he couldn't find out why it was there, but he had taken it and cleaned it up the moment he was back home, much to the confusion of his mother.

Once dressed, Sora shoved his already-messy school outfit into his backpack and headed downstairs, pulling open the utility drawer and taking out his father's heavy-duty flashlight. His mother gave him a questioning look, to which he only grinned. "Ghost stories," he said simply.

"Right," she replied, chuckling. "Don't stay up too late, okay?"

"I won't," Sora replied, heading out the door and ignoring his mother's reminder to do his homework. Once outside, he stuffed the flashlight in his backpack and headed to the temple site, pedaling his bike as fast as he could go.

The town went by in a blur; Sora knew the roads like the back of his hand. The temple was down one of the old roads that no one took anymore, but they still knew it was there. Sora's bicycle was, luckily, a mountain bike, so he didn't have a hard time going down the gravel road. When he finally reached the end, he chained his bike to one of the larger bushes and shoved his way through eagerly. The sight of the temple on the other side satisfied his hunger for gazing upon it, and he smiled, taking in every detail of the once-magnificent structure. It was crumbling, that was for sure, but it looked stable enough for him. The thrill of heading inside and making a discovery no one else would was exciting.

Sora was barely aware of the time passing while he gazed on the ruins, taking in the small cracks in parts of the wall, the weathered down walls, the stairs, and the dark, mysterious entrance. The temple wasn't at all very high – the school was taller – and the bushes closed it off into its own yard of sorts. But there was something else about the temple that captivated Sora, an element that he wasn't sure of. Was it the mystery? Was it the fact that every day since he was a little boy, he'd come visit it? Maybe he simply liked it for no reason at all?

The sun had begun to set when the other three arrived at the scene. The sound of the foliage rustling startled Sora out of his daze, and he helped the group through the bushes.

"Sorry it took us so long," Tidus said. "Wakka had a bit of trouble with his dad, but we're here now."

Sora nodded. "Right. I've got a flashlight, so I'll be able to see. It's one of dad's utility ones, so it should last a while."

"Did you get any spare batteries for it?" Riku asked, crossing his arms.

There was a hesitation in Sora's voice and he shook his head. "No…"

Riku sighed. "Then you'd better hope they don't run dry when you're in there," he said. "I couldn't get my walkie-talkies out of my closet so we'll just wait for you out here, okay?"

"You mean you're not coming in with me?" Sora asked.

"No way," Wakka said. "We'll keep watch out here to make sure no one's comin'."

_We're not committing a crime or anything…_ "Okay, I'll go in alone. You guys keep an eye out. I won't be long."

Without another word, Sora dropped his backpack on the ground and pulled out his flashlight, gazing at the temple one more time before slowly making his way up the steps. They were firm underneath his feet in spite of looking unstable, and he slowly made his way to the entrance before flicking on his flashlight. With one last look at his friends, he stepped into the temple's darkened interior.

The first thing that Sora noticed were the walls inside the temple were far more well-kept than the ones outside, possibly from the fact that the weather could not reach them in here, but there were still cracks and chunks missing in places. The designs carved along the edges of the walls were an odd thorn-like pattern, and no hieroglyphics of any kind were to be found. Past the first wall he encountered, Sora followed a corridor beyond it to a rather large room, possibly the center of the temple. From the outside, the temple looked quite small, but this room was amazingly large. In the center was what appeared to be a table of sorts, and there were small lanterns on the walls with burn marks on the walls behind them. _Probably from where they lit them,_ Sora thought. There were a few smashed bits of clay lying around what looked like the remains of a large altar on the table. Whatever broke it had to be quite powerful.

For a while, he thought that this was the only room in the temple, but Sora quickly looked toward the back wall and saw a small doorway. Creeping forward and shining his flashlight toward it, he saw the thorn pattern from around the walls curve into the room beyond and head downward. _A staircase?_ He wondered, starting forward nervously.

Sure enough, there was a narrow staircase heading downward. Swallowing his fear, Sora headed downward, shuddering nervously. Once he reached the bottom, he found a short hallway awaiting him, one that turned abruptly, possibly into a larger room. He started forward slowly, hearing each of his footsteps echo off the stone walls.

A cracking sound came from overhead, and a bit of dust fell from the roof into Sora's hair. He held his nose nervously, afraid that sneezing would cause the entire temple to fall on top of him. After his initial panic wore, Sora continued forward again, down the hall and past the turn.

He was met with a smaller room than the one upstairs, this one more like a larger hallway than anything with a door at the end. There was a large, rectangular, box-like object off to one side, and though it was in rather good condition, there was a bit of dust from the roof on it. There were several shelves, on which were various trinkets that Sora couldn't clearly make out.

The cracking noise came again, and some dust fell again, this time on Sora's shoulder. He gasped suddenly and spun around, but quickly noted that nothing was there. On the wall were, finally, some hieroglyphics. Most of them were written in actual words, using an alphabet that Sora didn't fully understand. There was a circle that could have passed for a design for a stained glass window, depicting a rendition of the islands, along with a dragon or two swimming in the sea. Each island had something written on it (_Probably the names,_ he guessed), but one in particular – the one Sora discerned as the one he was currently on – had an odd second marking. There was a primitive drawing of a crown, and next to it, a key-like shape.

The moment Sora spotted it, his flashlight began to flicker. His eyes widened in fear. "No, no, don't die on me!" he begged, making sure the batteries were in tightly. But no matter how hard Sora tried, the flashlight would not obey him, and he was eventually left in darkness.

Sora had no idea what he was feeling at the moment. All his life, he wanted to explore this temple, only to find that there was nothing interesting inside. But the moment he _did_ find something worth talking about, he's left in the dark, with the roof dripping onto his head and no certain sense of direction. He cursed himself for acting on impulse, and sat down right where he stood, setting the flashlight aside and hugging his knees. He considered feeling his way out, but it might be too dangerous. There was no way he could sit and wait for a rescue; no one would dare come in, and even if they did and he managed to get back out in one piece, he'd never hear the end of it from his parents for not only lying, but getting others involved.

The spiky-haired boy felt tears slide down his face in fear, and he found himself just starting to choke on the dusty, stale air. For a moment, a very brief moment, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It could have been his mind playing tricks on him, he knew it, but he froze, startled. Perhaps it was his fear, or maybe his suspicion, but the hand moved slightly, as though lifting away, and Sora impulsively reached out to grab it, only to feel that nothing was there. Even so, he clutched himself tighter. He dared not scream, he dared not move, should any sudden movement cause him more fear.

After a moment, Sora found the strength to stand, and did so gradually, turning around and heading for where he thought the staircase was. _If I'm going to leave, I'll have to do it in the dark. Not much here to talk about aside from that crazy map with scribbles all over it…_

All of the sudden, Sora heard a creaking sound from behind him, and a light shown forward. Not the kind of yellow light that came from light bulbs, but a white light that came from the sun itself. This light, however, was special: it had a strange blue tint to it that gave it a feeling of purity. Sora turned, looking for the source, and unconsciously found himself stepping through the now-open door.

The room was small, but far more majestic than Sora would have anticipated judging by the rest of the temple. Rather than old, beige-tinted walls, these were _carved_ out of some sort of gray stone. The floor must have been made of marble; it felt as such. As Sora stepped forward, he could finally make out the source of the light.

There was a pedestal rising out of the floor, coming up and making a bowl-shape with four small claws rising out of them. A similar pedestal came from the _ceiling_, and between them was a sphere of light about the size of a tennis ball, floating between the two pedestals, which left it with at least a foot of room.

_What is that?_ Sora wondered, entirely entranced by the glowing ball of light. He had never seen anything like it; was such a thing possible in ancient times? Or maybe, just maybe, it was something even more than just technology.

Sora felt a wave of warmth rush through his entire body, starting deep in his chest and spreading out to his limbs. He didn't know why, but he felt…content. At peace. Like he belonged here. Perhaps it was the mysterious light. He found himself reaching for it, but then he pulled his hand away as hesitation struck him. "What am I doing?" Sora asked himself aloud in a whisper. Even has he wanted to pull away, the light glimmered invitingly, and Sora found himself approaching again. It happened slowly: first, his feet took a few steps, and then he leaned forward a bit. His arm lifted, his wrist straightened, and his fingers stretched toward the shining sphere. The closer he got to it, the more excited he became, for no real reason at all. Then, finally, his fingertips brushed against it.

Surprisingly, the light had no feel to it. It was like Sora had placed his fingers in warm water. They tingled slightly, and the sensation spread down his arm. Startled, he jerked his hand back, marveling at the little white sphere.

His trance was broken when the sphere grew rapidly, fitting snugly between the two bowl-like pedestals from the floor and ceiling. Sora's eyes widened in shock, and spun around just in time to see the doors slam shut behind him. With nowhere to run, he paced his back against the doors, only able to watch as the light in front of him grew brighter. As it reached its limit, it shattered the pedestals and made a beeline for Sora. The brunette was unable to move, and found himself assaulted by the light, which had shot forward like a beam straight into his chest. The pain was so intense that Sora could barely scream, but his mouth shot open anyway as the excess light spiderwebbed out a bit. When the pain finally ended, he fell to his hands and knees, choking as the world around him began to grow blindingly bright. Then, all at once, the light faded away, and the world seemed far darker than it probably was.

The boy was unable to move for a moment before he found enough strength to stand, his eyes weary all of the sudden. Something in his heart twitched while he gasped for breath, though it didn't help him that the air was stale and dusty. _What happened?_ he wondered. Something like that wasn't scientifically possible. Was that th epower of light that the Seekers had so long searched for? Did it have anything to do with the strange markings on the wall earlier?

Before Sora had a chance to find that out (or allow his eyes to adjust to the absence of light), the world around him began to tremble. Panicking, he tore for the doorway, only to find it locked. The roof began to crack, and dust fell out of the crevices. Acting entirely on instinct, Sora began to climb up the fallen stones and bits of brick to the roof, but fell as the partially-deteriorated rocks slid from under him. He then turned toward the door and attempted to break it open – if this place was old, it wouldn't be too hard – but more debris fell down before it and it was no longer an option. Sora shouted for help as he desperately sought a way out of his predicament, and looked up just in time to see chunks of roof falling toward him. Jumping out of the way, he made for another pile of rubble that had stacked considerably toward the first floor and climbed his way up, inwardly thankful that these pieces of rock didn't slip from underneath him.

Once on the first floor, he found that he was able to see better, thanks to the fact that the roof had mostly fallen away. The sky was darker now that the sun had nearly set, and the stars were coming out. Sora would normally have looked upon the sight with eager eyes, but the temple was still collapsing. Shoving his way forward to where he knew the entrance was, he leapt over a large chunk of rock just as it fell and raced through the door, tripping as he didn't expect the stairs to be so close. He tumbled and fell, rolling violently down the steps and grunting loudly as he did. Then, as he neared the bottom, he must have struck his head on something because he felt a pain burst from behind his eyes and he blacked out.


	2. Accidents

Lemme get a few things out of the way before we go further. While there _is_ a High School in this fic, it isn't the center of the plot here. There won't be any school drama making its way into the main plot. For those of you that like that sort of thing, sorry. You won't find it here.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Two: Accidents  
**

* * *

Sora woke up the next morning feeling unusually full of energy. He at least thought he would have had some sort of stinging headache or a sore limb, but he felt perfectly fine. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the sun was rising, and he was sleeping on a bed that wasn't his. Sitting up, he recognized the striking white room, devoid of much mess other than three empty sleeping bags on the floor.

Why was he in Riku's room?

The brunette was about to get up when Riku himself entered, along with Tidus and Wakka, whom were both already dressed. "You're awake," Riku observed, walking over to him. "You feeling okay?"

"Never better," Sora replied, but his mind was racing. What had that light been? It had only floated there peacefully, and then it attacked him…and just faded afterward. Had it thought of him as an intruder, and then decided to dispose of him?

Riku gave Sora an odd look. "You don't look okay," he said flatly.

Sora shrugged. "Well, I _feel_ fine. What happened?"

"There was this insanely bright flash of light from inside the temple," Tidus said, "And the place just started falling apart. We were going to go look for help when we heard you shouting, then you ran out the front and knocked yourself unconscious falling down the steps."

"I looked you over when you came out," Wakka added, "But you only had a few scratches. You're lucky to be alive, ya?"

"I guess," Sora said, the words sinking in. _Just what exactly happened back there?_

"Anyway," Riku interrupted, "It's time to head to school. I took the liberty of getting your clothes washed, Sora, so get changed. It's on the desk. We'll be down getting breakfast, okay?"

Sora nodded. "Alrighty."

The three boys left. Sora quickly changed out of his red outfit into his school uniform before slipping on his shoes and heading downstairs, careful not to make any noise even though he heard the news going on downstairs. When he made it down to the kitchen, where Riku had laid out some toast for Sora, he sat down and began his meal.

"-this morning about the mysterious collapse of the Temple of Light just down the abandoned road near Destiny Islands High School. Eyewitnesses say they saw light coming from inside the structure before it caved in. The cause of this event is still a mystery. We'll have more news on the temple's collapse this evening."

Sora quirked an eyebrow at the television, where he saw a reporter sitting at a desk. There was no video footage of the temple, but the report by itself was interesting. Part of Sora, however, felt nervous. "Are you guys sure no one saw us?" he asked.

"Positive," Tidus assured him. "It was probably too dark to make out who was who anyway, at least from a distance. Whoever saw it probably didn't see us, or only saw the collapse."

"You had a lot of guts to be running in there like that," Riku pointed out. "Like we said, you're lucky to be alive, Sora."

Sora grinned knowingly. _Yeah…I am. I'm still not sure what kept me that way._

* * *

Wakka had not salvaged Sora's bike from the bush near the ruins of the temple, so he ended up sharing a seat on the back of Riku's bike, and he planned on heading back to the brush to retrieve his precious dual-wheeled contraption once the school day was over. He made his way lazily into homeroom and went to his favorite hobby: staring out the window.

When the role call began, he sat up and replied when his name was called. Mr. Dilan gave him an odd, suspicious look, but let whatever issue was on his mind slide. Sora felt a chill go down his back for no reason at all, but went back to the window.

The first few classes of the day went without any uncommon events. It was only at lunch time that anything really happened. When Sora sat down with Riku, Tidus and Wakka, he was ready to discuss things like Blitzball or Pep Rallies with a renewed interest – probably since he nearly escaped death from a collapsing temple he decided that they were interesting after all – when a different subject came up.

"So, did you find anything in there?" Tidus asked.

Sora had had his mouth half-way onto his sandwich when he paused. Would they really believe him about the light that he had found? And even if they did, what would they say? He began to speak about it, but something held him back. Something just didn't want him to talk about it. Making a decision, he shook his head. "There was a wall with some scribbles all over it. Other than that, I didn't find anything." Deciding that would do for now, he took a bite out of his sandwich.

"What kind of scribbles?" Wakka asked. "There had to be _something_ in there, ya?"

"Eh wooked wike a naf of eh ihramf," Sora replied.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Sora, don't talk with your mouth full."

Sora swallowed. "I said it looked like a map of the islands," he said, this time far more clearly. "There was some writing in there, too, but mainly just a map. I think there was some jewelry on the top shelf in that old room, but most of the temple was underground. I think someone might have lived there or something.

"That doesn't sound very exciting," Riku said, shoulders sagging as he reached for the juice box he had packed. "But how does that explain that light we saw? You sure you're not hiding anything?"

"I'm sure," Sora said slowly, stuffing the rest of his sandwich into his mouth for good measure. _They wouldn't believe me, anyway._

Catching the look in Sora's eye, Riku gave him a suspicious look, but let the issue slide. Sora swallowed the remainder of his sandwich and looked up as he saw two girls walk past them. One of them was the ever-studious Selphie, while the other was Kairi. He found himself staring as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ears with her delicate fingers, sitting on her knees on the ground as she pulled out a bag lunch. She smiled, deep blue eyes glistening like sapphire gemstones in the outdoor sun…

"Yo, Sora."

Sora snapped out of his daze and looked up. "Yeah?"

Wakka crushed the can of cola he had just finished and tossed it behind him into a trash bin. "You comin' to the big game on Saturday?"

While he was somewhat disgruntled that he had been snapped out of his thoughts by something so meager, Sora only shrugged in indifference. "I guess. I don't have anything better to do on Saturday unless Mom drags me off somewhere."

"We'll see if we can save you some front-row seats, then," Tidus said enthusiastically. "Zanarkand doesn't stand a _chance_ against D-I-High!"

The two blitzball players shot each other a high five while Riku and Sora exchanged odd glances.

* * *

After the lunch bell rang, Sora made his way to the bathroom to wash his hands before heading off to History class. He was reaching for the faucet when he felt his hand tingling, as though it had fallen asleep like his foot tended to during Algebra. He stared at his hand curiously; it was the same one he had used to reach for the light. After noting that nothing was wrong, he shrugged and turned on the faucet.

He was about to place his hands underneath the water when he felt a cold sensation spread down his arm and into his fingers. He shivered for a second, and began to rinse his hands when he found that his fingers hit a column of ice.

_What the…_

Sure enough, the water that had come out of the faucet was frozen in mid-fall. It hadn't even hit the sink yet. Sora eyed it suspiciously, and moved onto the next faucet in hopes that it wouldn't suddenly decide to give him an icicle rather than some water.

The second faucet didn't like him very much either. When he reached for the handle he once again felt the chill, but this time the water didn't freeze; the entire faucet became covered in ice. Sora blinked in disbelief. _What's a guy gatta do to get his hands washed around here?_ He thought, flustered. He stared at his hand in disbelief, and could have _sworn_ he had seen the air look a tad frosty around it when he picked it up. He flexed his fingers experimentally, blinking, and then moved on to another faucet.

Unfortunately, the next few sinks had _also_ frozen over. Deciding that the plumbing in that building must have had some vendetta against him that day, Sora gave up washing his hands and headed for class.

Things only got stranger throughout the day. Professor Even, his chemistry teacher, had assigned them partners for the lab assignment that day. Riku had been stuck with Selphie while Tidus and Wakka were lucky enough to be put together. Sora had a lucky strike: he was paired with Kairi. He didn't know whether to be excited or nervous.

To Sora's surprise, Kairi was quite outgoing and polite, but she still focused on the task at hand just enough to where she wasn't an all-business stiff and not an all-nonsense goofball like Tidus tended to be. The moment they started their assignment, she had gone to the back of the lab to get an apron and pair of goggles for Sora as well as some for herself. When he gave her a shaky thank-you, she just smiled and headed for their table.

What neither of them knew was that putting Sora in charge of the burner would be a _big_ mistake.

"Are we using a Fahrenheit or Celsius scale?" Sora asked.

Kairi looked at the sheet carefully. "It says Celsius here," she said. "Ours is too cold."

Sora doubted her; for some reason he was sweating. "You sure about that?" he asked, wiping his brow with his sleeve. _When did it get so hot in here? I'm not wearing long sleeves…and why isn't anyone else complaining about the heat?_

"Positive," Kairi replied.

"If you say so," Sora replied, reaching for the burner. He kept a close eye on the meter, turning it slowly so he wouldn't burn the mixture they were heating. It was hard to do while he felt like he was melting. Kairi had the assignment paper in one hand and a pencil in the other, her eyes on the vial of liquid.

All at once, Sora felt a pang of heat shoot down his arms and to the tips of his fingers. He jerked back in alarm and the burner flared up considerably, causing the chemicals they were studying to fall to the floor and catch aflame. Kairi's frantic cries alerted Professor Even, whom made immediately for one of the fire extinguishers. Unfortunately, part of Kairi's uniform suffered from the assault as well, and Sora, acting on instinct, held out the palm of his hand. In a flash, the flames died from the girl's uniform, but now Kairi's entire body was sopping wet. Sora made for the burner and shut it of while Professor Even put out the fire, and the mess was over faster than it started.

Sora's eyes went wide at what he had just seen. Not only had the burner flared up without warning right as he had felt a flash of heat go through him, but a single wave of his hand had doused the fire that had caught onto Kairi's uniform. No doubt the girl would be rightly upset, but at least she was alright. _What's going on…?_

While the class calmed down from the sudden fiery fiasco, the Professor gave Sora a look that would have sent grown men hiding in corners. "Would you care to explain this, young man?"

The spiky-haired boy blinked. "I was turning up the burner and it exploded or something, I guess…I was careful, I swear!" He looked over helplessly at Kairi, whom was stunned into silence. _Great. How am I going to face her now?_

"I suppose accidents _do_ happen," Even replied, visage still firm, "But I'm afraid I cannot allow you to participate in any mote laboratory-related assignments this semester, Mister Kagi. Back to your seat in the classroom, young man."

Sora stared at the ground in defeat.

* * *

Physical Education was, to say the least, much less disastrous than Chemistry had been. Coach Aeleus had been gracious enough to allow them to choose whatever activity they wanted, and most votes went for sparring, much to Riku and Sora's amusement. Grabbing the practice bamboo swords from the gym closet (which was actually an old, wooden shack near a cluster of trees), they lined up on benches and went two at a time. Coach Aeleus stood at the side lines and watched, his whistle in his mouth as usual to prevent foul play.

"Do you even _like_ the martial arts, Sora?" Riku questioned.

Sora shrugged. "I always thought it'd be cool to know how to use a sword. Maybe one day I'll be as good as you."

Riku laughed, and Sora only grinned at the sentiment. Both of them knew that Riku frequented a local dojo, and he was one of the best students there. He had taken classes since he was at lest seven years old, so even if Sora began classes, he wouldn't surpass Riku's skill.

"Who wants next?" Coach Aeleus called. Sora and Riku instantly raised their hands, and he nodded to them. "Alright. Mister Kagi, Mister Tekra, you may have the field."

Several whispers broke out in the crowd. Sora wasn't known for his athletic ability – he was an active teen, but he never participated in sports of any kind – but Riku was quite the opposite. They believed that the match was already decided before it began, but Sora ignored them. Holding his sword forward the same way as Riku, he stared very closely at the blade's tip. It waved very, very slightly back and forth in Riku's grip. Sora tightened the grip on his own sword, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"Begin!"

Riku made a lunge forward immediately. Sora staggered out of the way just in time; knowing Riku he would have begun like that. The silver-haired boy bright his sword down for a strike which Sora brought his own sword up just in time to block. The impact of the hit spread through the sword and went down his fingers and arms, all the way down to his legs and feet, causing his knees to bend a bit. The moment Riku made to lift the sword, something happened.

Everything seemed to slow down in Sora's mind, but it still went the same speed as normal. Suddenly, he could see more than before: the tiny beads of sweat on Riku's skin, every strand of hair on his head, the incredibly small splinters that had flown off when both swords had impacted. He could even _hear_ more all of the sudden: the cheers from the other students, the birds in the trees nearby, the otherwise unnoticeable breeze, even the sound of Riku's breathing.

The opposing sword lifted and made to strike again, but Sora batted it away like it was a fly. He stepped forward, striking horizontally, only to have Riku block it by inches. Riku got a chance to unleash a flurry of attacks, all of which Sora completely anticipated and blocked. Up. Left. Down. Left. Forward. Right. Upper right. Lower left. Forward. It came far too easily for him than it should have.

The cheers from the students became gasps of shock as Sora parried every blow delivered to him by his adversary. Finally, Riku wheeled back a strike from above, but he waited too long. Sora took his chance, swinging his own attack to hopefully shove the sword out of Riku's hands.

The impact snapped Riku's sword clean in half.

In shock, Sora dropped his own weapon as both he and Riku stared at the remains of the bamboo sword. Everyone knew that the school was in need of getting new equipment, including replacing the sparring swords, but it still took a lot of force to break bamboo. Sora turned helplessly to the observing students, whom were all frozen in shock. Coach Aeleus was gawking at the display, his whistle having fallen clean out of his mouth. Nervously, Sora took his seat back in the bleachers. Riku followed, and the next match began without a word.

* * *

"How did you _do that_?" Riku asked as they headed for their lockers. "You've never set foot in a dojo, Sora!"

Sora shrugged. "I wanna know that, too. Maybe I just swung too hard or something."

Riku shook his head. "It's not just the broken sword, Sora. You blocked every blow I sent to you. Since when were you that good?"

"I don't know," Sora replied. "I've never even held a sword before today. Well, I haven't sparred anyone with one, in any case."

"At any rate," Riku continued, fiddling with the lock on his locker and opening it, "Wakka and Tidus have ball practice today, so we're on our own. Wanna head over to the island?"

The statement might have sounded redundant, but everyone knew that in that context, "the island" referred to the Island of Light, where many of the children had built a number of simple wooden structures to play on. Sora nodded eagerly, but hesitated once he did. "Sure, but…Riku, I need to talk to you about something."

Riku gave Sora an odd look. "Sora, we're best friends. You can talk to me about anything."

"Well," Sora began, "I'm more worried about you not believing me."

"Does this have to do with the temple?" Riku asked plainly.

Sora paused, making sure no one was paying too much attention, and he nodded. "Yeah. I think so."

Riku shut his locker and heaved his backpack onto his back. "Well, come on. You can tell me on the way to the ruins. We have to get your bike back anyway."

"If you say so," Sora replied. "I've just had some weird stuff happening around me all day, and I'm not really sure what to make of it…"

"Like the burner going nuts in Chemistry?" Riku suggested.

Sora nodded. "Yeah. And when I went to wash my hands after lunch, all of the faucets froze over. And when we sparred today…I dunno, I got lucky when I blocked that first hit, and then suddenly…well, I really don't know what happened, but next thing I knew I was blocking your hits and I broke your sword. It's all a bit of a blur."

Riku stared at Sora for a moment, then led him outside the school and began to unchain his bike. "That _does_ sound weird and all, but…what's it got to do with the temple?"

"I didn't want to say it before," Sora began, "But I actually found something in there. Other than the map thing, that is."

"I thought so," Riku replied, hopping on the front seat of his bike. "Come on. Let's get your bike first, _then_ you can tell me."

Sora nodded, and the two headed off for the ruins. The paved road was much smoother than the gravel road – Riku's bike wasn't suited for rougher terrain – and they dismounted once they were far enough down the road that no one would be onto them. After Riku stopped, Sora dismounted the back of the bike. "I'll be right back," He said, heading forward.

The gravel road wasn't very long; Sora reached the end in less than a minute at a quick jog. He spotted his bike and breathed a sigh of relief, heading for the chain it was connected on. He had just stuffed the chain in his backpack when he heard voices.

"…must have found it."

He froze, quickly looking around to make sure no one saw him before peeking through the bushes. A few people stood in front of the ruins of the temple, all cloaked in black with their hoods up. He leaned in a bit closer to eavesdrop.

"I doubt it. Even the most daring of researchers would not come in. The temple was falling apart. Besides, we had a ward up around it anyway."

"Yeah, but that ward doesn't work on _everyone_, you know. Do you think _it_ is still in there?"

"No. I went inside and checked it out. We found some of his old trinkets, but _it_ was gone."

"Oh, that's just great. You know that it took ages for us to pull that thing into the state it was in. Thanks to whatever gust of wind blew this place over, it's been dispersed back to where it came from."

"I'm aware of that. If we had just brought him in earlier and given it to him, we wouldn't have to worry about that."

"But it wouldn't accept anyone, you idiot. What are we going to tell the boss? 'Oh, hi. Sorry, but the light we finally managed to conjure? The temple it's in collapsed and now it's gone. Let's take another fifty-something years doing it all over again.' Yeah, that'll go well."

Sora gasped quietly. _Light? Conjured? They know about what's in the temple? Who are they?_

"Guys, quiet. I think I heard something from over there."

_Crap! Busted!_

Sora wheeled around, jerking the bike out of the leaves and getting on, wheeling out of the area as quickly as he could. Angry shouts from the strangers followed, but he ignored them. There was a small sound of gunfire and an arrow-shaped red projectile the size of his forearm grazed past his cheek and landed on the ground in front of him. Several more followed, missing by inches as Sora pedaled with a speed he never knew he could reach. When he saw Riku ahead, he didn't wait for the question he knew was coming. "Look out!"

The silver-haired boy took the hint and was right on Sora's trail. The arrows were coming even faster now, sticking upright in the ground. The world went by in a flash until Sora finally made it to the main road with Riku. They screeched their bikes to a halt and looked behind them: the arrows remained in place, not vanishing. There had to be thousands of them, and Sora didn't feel like wondering how deadly they were.

After catching his breath, Riku stared at Sora in disbelief. "You mind telling me what just happened?"

Sora could only shake his head in equal shock. "I don't know…but we should get out of here in case they decide to follow us."

Riku said nothing, but the look on his face was enough of an agreement for Sora. They left quickly, leaving the questions for somewhere safer.


	3. Committed To Memory

Okay, this chapter is smaller than I hoped, but I thought it was a good cutting off point. Here ya go, people. Oh, and in case you haven't guessed, someone familiar is going to show up. :D

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Three: Committed To Memory  
**

* * *

"_So, there were intruders on the scene?" a man in black said, rubbing his chin as he stared at the one kneeling before his throne._

"_Yes, sir," the other cloaked man replied. "A boy. We weren't able to make him out, but he had an accomplice. We are relieved to say, however, that it wasn't the traitor."_

_The leader hesitated. "This could be bad. Did you reveal yourselves?"_

_The underling shook his head. "No. We attempted to eliminate them, but they fled too quickly. I've never seen speed like that. To you think the Chasers have returned?"_

"_Not quite," the leader replied, "But the boy is still a threat. We must eliminate him, but it will not be an easy task. No doubt the traitor will be defending him…"_

"_I understand," the underling said, standing. "I will take immediate action, master. Rest assured the boy will not go far."_

* * *

"I think we lost them," Sora said, gasping for breath as they chained their bikes to the docks.

Riku nodded. "Whoever they were, they won't follow us to the island. Come on."

The two boys got in their boats and started rowing. The entire trip over was rather quiet, only filled with the sound of their oars hitting against the water. They didn't splash each other playfully like they normally did, or talk while they went over. They just rowed, and they rowed quickly until they reached the other island's dock. There, they tied their boats in place and climbed up onto the docks. "We'll see them coming if they try to follow us," Riku assured Sora.

"Yeah," Sora replied. He glanced back and noted that, sure enough, no one was coming. He sighed in relief and cast a glance back at the waterfall nearby. It wasn't far in the island, and Sora had often gone in there to just sit and let his feet turn all prune-y in the water when he was younger.

Riku clapped a hand on Sora's shoulder and started walking forward. "Come on. You said you were going to talk about it. You can trust me."

Sora smiled weakly, following his friend toward the waterfall. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt. See, when I went in the temple, there was this other room past the one with the map and stuff, and there was some weird pedestal with a light in it."

"A light?" Riku echoed.

"Yeah," Sora replied, nodding. "It was about the size of my fist, and it kind of floated there." He waved a bit to emphasize his point. "I don't know why, but I kind of felt comfortable in there. When I tried to touch it, my fingers went through it."

Riku gazed at Sora in alarm before glaring at him. "You actually tried to _take_ it?"

"No!" Sora insisted. "No, no…I just wanted to feel it. It was really pretty…but then something happened, and it grew bigger and shot one of those weird beams at me like you see in sci-fi movies or something. I thought the pain would never end."

"That explains the flash and the scream," Riku commented, still disgruntled. "What happened next?"

Sora shrugged. "The light just sort of disappeared, and the whole place started falling apart. I'm still not sure what happened or how I managed to get out, but I did."

"And there wasn't a scratch on you," Riku concluded. "You sure you're not damaged on the inside, Sora?"

"Positive," Sora replied, staring at the sky for a moment. He didn't know why, but he simply couldn't shake off a feeling within him. There was something in his heart building up, growing stronger, and it wanted his attention. If only he knew what it was, he could respond… Did it have something to do with that mysterious light? If it did, was it sentient? So many questions swarmed in Sora's mind that he hardly noticed that Riku had spoken to him. "Huh? What?"

"I asked if you were okay, Sora," Riku repeated. "You're obviously not. Do you need a nap or something?"

Sora shook his head. "No. I'm fine. Kinda…energetic, actually. Why?"

Riku shrugged. "You zoned out for a moment. I guess it's nothing…but with what happened with you in the temple and the stuff at school, something weird's got to be going on."

_Like that guy that chased us,_ Sora mused. _Just who was he?_

There was a twinge of foreboding, coming from that same sensation that was steadily growing stronger within him. It seemed to be reacting to the question he had asked himself. Not expecting it, Sora had gasped quietly and jerked a bit, causing Riku to look at him in concern. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah," Sora insisted. "Whatever that light did to me is just making me a bit jumpy, that's all."

"Let's hope that's it," Riku sighed. "You've got the attention span of a goldfish at the moment. Come on."

As the duo headed for the seaside shack, Sora felt his mind wandering. The presence in his heart was trying to speak to him. It was calm and soothing, but at the same time there was a great power within it that he couldn't rightly explain. He tried to focus on it, he tried to get it to speak to him, and most of all he tried to understand what it was. But no answer came. He focused on it so intently that he was following Riku almost blindly, his physical senses guiding him into the shack, barely noting that he had picked up two long, wooden objects, and up the stairs. His feet moved for him, his eyes gazing blankly forward. But his mind was focused. He wanted that voice to answer. He at least wanted it to tell him what it was.

Almost as though to answer him, Sora's hand tingled very slightly. He was afraid for a moment that he would have another accident like with the faucets or the chemistry lab, but luckily nothing happened. The feeling gradually got stronger as Sora focused on it, which he did, hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he did focus long enough, he'd get his answer.

It wasn't until Riku had stopped that he snapped back to reality. They had gone past the docks and were now standing on the smaller islet that the old, crooked paopu tree was on. While disappointed that he was snapped out of his daze and thus away from the answer he wanted, he was eager to see what Riku had brought him to the island for.

"I want to see what you can do," Riku said plainly, tossing Sora one of the wooden sticks he had brought.

Sora caught the object without even fumbling…which was odd, since he tended to be quite clumsy. Looking at it, he noted that the object was a toy sword made of paopu wood. "What's this for?" he asked.

Riku sighed. "Weren't you listening? I wanna spar with you. If that's okay, that is."

"I don't see why not," Sora replied, "But…why?"

"Sora, I've taken martial arts for almost my whole life," Riku said sternly. "And sword fighting is one of my best areas in that. I'm one of the sensei's best students. You can't just be able to block like that, let alone break a sword made of bamboo with no experience whatsoever."

"So you want me to spar with you again?"

"Yeah."

Sora sighed. "Well, sounds good to me, I guess. Don't hold back, okay?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Riku replied just as he raced forward and prepared a downward strike.

It happened all over again. His vision focused, his hearing heightened, his skin felt every tiny gust of wind against it. Sora felt as though he had done this his entire life and before, even. He blocked Riku's strike and shoved him away, taking a battle-ready stance. As Riku was in the middle of recoil, he studied every inch of him. Swift. Powerful. Only fights with one hand on his sword. The moment Riku started forward again, Sora also charged, batting at his opponent's weapon away when he tried to strike again. Sora made for his own offensive, only for Riku to leap away the moment he would have struck.

As fast as he had left, however, Riku was back in the fray, sending a blow at Sora which was quickly blocked. Sora had seen, heard, _and_ felt it coming. The next one, too. And the one after that. But when Sora made to block again, Riku knocked his sword clean out of his hands, and went for another blow.

He was going too fast, Sora knew it. He didn't see that Sora had lost his sword. Hopefully Riku would notice in time and stop, but Sora instinctively brought his hands up to shield himself from the danger as Riku's wooden sword approached.

The tingling in Sora's hand returned, much more strongly than before. As he watched, Sora saw a shower of light extend from his hand in a straight line before forming a long, metal object that deflected Riku's blow, the impact causing Sora to recoil backward. Riku backed off, eyes wide, and Sora dropped whatever was in his hand, eyes widened in shock.

Lying on the ground was a sword-length key, silver in color with the end boxed off in what was stereotypical for old-fashioned keys, a crown silhouette cut into the teeth. The handle was black, the gold-colored guard around it shaped into a square. At the very end of the weapon's hilt was a small loop, onto which a keychain was connected. At the end of the keychain was an odd little charm, shaped with two circles sitting on top of a much larger one. Overall, the weapon looked dangerous, but not quite as lethal as a sword.

Riku was staring at the thing with wide eyes, though not quite as wide as Sora, whom was the one that had the object appear in his hands. "What is that?" he asked.

"Search me," Sora replied. "You knocked my sword out of my hand and it just…showed up."

"I noticed," Riku said, staring at it but not moving.

A curiosity piqued in Sora's mind, and he slowly approached the object. He reached out, exercising great caution, and touched the handle with the very tips of his fingers. When he did, he felt something surge from the weapon into his hand, up his arm and-

He pulled away, startled. Riku glanced at him oddly. "What's wrong? It shock you or something?"

"Not exactly," Sora replied, attempting to pick up the object again. This time, he expected the rush of…Power? Energy? Whatever it was…and successfully clasped his hand around the handle, picking up the entire weapon clumsily. He never was good with swords; what was he supposed to do with a giant key? "What do you think it's for?"

Riku shook his head, stepping forward. "No idea. We don't even know what it is." He paused a few feet in front of Sora. "Mind if I look at it?"

Sora nodded. "Sure." He handed the key to Riku, whom grasped it much like he did a sword. He hadn't even held it in his hand for two seconds when it vanished in a flash of white sparkles, only to appear in Sora's hand in a similar fashion. Both boys – Sora especially – jumped back at this new development, eyes wide and mouths gaping.

"How did you_ do_ that?" Riku asked after several moments had passed.

"I didn't," Sora replied. "Maybe it likes me or something."

Riku took the opportunity to give Sora a blank look. "Sora, it's a giant key."

Sora returned Riku's gaze. "Well, what other explanation do we have?"

Shaking his head, the silver-haired boy noticed the sword he had lent Sora lying on the ground, and went to pick it up. "Whatever it is, I don't think it's a good idea to let anyone see it. Can you hide it anywhere?"

And therein lay Sora's new predicament. He had somehow frozen the plumbing in the boy's bathroom, caused an accident in the lab, was sparring incredibly well when he very well knew he had never held so much as a dagger before in his life before that day, and now this _key_ showed up out of nowhere. "I have no idea," Sora replied truthfully, glancing at the waterfall absently. "I mean, weird stuff has been happening all day, and I don't know of a good place to hide all this. Mom likes to clean my room, and if she sees it…" _Or if she picks it up, she might get shocked just like I did. I don't want to have to explain any of this to her._

Sora's hand tingled oddly again, just like before when he had lost focus while following Riku. He glanced back down to examine the key, only to find it gone, a few sparkles of light just then fading away. Riku blinked. "Well, I guess that'll do it."

"Guess so," Sora agreed, flexing his fingers. Suddenly, everything seemed so foreign to him. "What now? It's only Thursday. We have to deal with school tomorrow, and I haven't even done my math homework yet."

"Homework still exists?" Riku said, laughing. "I can help you with _that_, at least. Everyone knows Mr. Braig isn't an easy teacher to deal with when it comes to that."

Casting aside the issues of mysterious giant keys and exploding burners for the day, the two gathered their backpacks and headed down past the docks and toward the waterfall, where a small cave was hidden just beneath the roots. Sora had often gone into the cave, as it was one of the few places that he'd never be bothered. Doing homework in there wasn't exactly a remarkable or relevant idea, but Sora didn't want anyone intruding on him in case something strange happened again. Riku followed him in, and they quietly headed to the back of the cave.

They had found the cave several years ago, and it had been entirely empty aside from the odd, wooden door that stood at the end for no particular reason. Sora now knew what the place was, thanks to his history lesson, and began to recall what it had been like when they found it. Sora had been startled when he heard a howl coming from the cave, so he and Riku ventured in to see what monster would have made the noise, but nothing was found. Being the children they were, they had no real sense of respect for the cave's natural appearance, and had begun playing in the cave regularly. Eventually they had drawn pictures on the walls, a face on one of the boulders, a man in a black cloak lying on the…wait.

Sora's eyes widened. There, lying in front of the door, was a person, draped in a similar black cloak as the other people whom had attacked him and Riku at the ruins. The hood was up, obscuring his face from view, but it didn't do much since the man was face-down on the ground.

After a stunned moment of silence, Sora spoke. "You think he's dead?"

Shaking his head, Riku edged toward the man. "I doubt it. He's probably just unconscious or something."

"He's wearing the same black cloak that the other guys were wearing," Sora warned his friend. "What should we do?"

"Don't ask me," Riku replied, wary of the stranger.

Curious, Sora approached the man and quietly bent down to see him more clearly. "He's breathing," he began, "So he's definitely alive."

Riku glared at the man in suspicion. "Should we help him?"

Sora didn't answer. He struggled for a moment before pushing the man over onto his back, revealing part of his face. He looked to be at least in his twenties, give or take a few years, and there were odd markings underneath his eyes, shaped like upside-down triangles. _Who is he? He kinda seems familiar…_

"Are you sure you wanna be doing that, Sora?" Riku asked in a whisper. "He might try to attack you."

"I don't think he will," Sora replied, then pausing at his own words. Riku stared at him questioningly, and he shrugged. "Just a feeling I got."

The man groaned, wrinkling his nose a bit. Bright turquoise eyes cracked open, remaining that way for a moment before he sat up, his hood falling off to reveal long, messy red hair. Sora tried not to stare at it; it had to be illegal to have hair that shade of red. The man glanced around warily. "What the…"

Sora tilted his head. "You okay?" he asked.

Glancing at Sora, the man quirked an eyebrow. "I'll live," he replied quietly. "How long have I been here?"

There was a moment while Sora counted the days in his head. Eventually, he just shrugged. "I dunno. The last time we went into this cave was a few weeks ago."

"Figures," the man grumbled, glancing around. When his eyes rested on Riku, the boy backed away a bit. The stranger got the message and looked around more. "Man…the last time I was here there weren't so many…_rocks_."

"Just who are you?" Sora asked.

The man grinned. It was an odd grin, almost like a smirk, or a mischievous smile. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Sora blinked. "Um…sure. I'm Sora."

Riku crossed his arms. "It's Riku," he said. "Mind telling us how you got here?"

"I'd like to know the same thing," Axel replied, beginning to stand but only finding himself stumbling back onto the ground. "You guys haven't seen any other guys in black cloaks, have you?"

"Why do you want to know?" Riku demanded.

Sora shot his friend a knowing look. "C'mon, Riku," he said before turning back to Axel. "I saw a few, but they didn't seem to happy to see me."

Axel snorted humorlessly. "Looks like we've got something in common, then," he muttered. "You mind showing me the way out of here? I've got a feeling if I use the same way I came in it won't exactly work."

"Sure," Sora replied. "You need help standing up?"

"I'll be fine," Axel insisted, but the moment he was upright he staggered a bit. Sora and Riku both winced as he looked down at where his leg was. "Still stings a bit…shoulda known. I can still walk, though."

Sora reached forward to help the man upright, but was waved off. Reluctantly, he led him toward the entrance to the cave. "What happened to you, Axel?"

Axel sighed. "My group and I were in another fight," he replied. "But I wanted it to stop. They didn't listen to me, so I lost my temper…blew up on them, pretty much. I don't remember being in a cave when that happened, though."

_That sounds incredibly familiar,_ Sora thought. If only he could remember where he had heard it…

"I'm alive now, though," Axel continued. "And from what you said earlier, so are the others."

"You mean the guys in black?" Riku asked, suspicious. "Are you with them?"

Axel shook his head. "I was, but I didn't like the way they ran things. They tried to…oh, wow, it's bright out here."

Sora grinned. "What'd you expect? We're on a tropical island."

No comment was made to that. The three headed forward into the daylight and Axel stared at the ocean. "Never changes," he muttered. "Would you two happen to know where you saw those other guys in the cloaks?"

"In the cave we just left," Riku retorted.

"Other than me."

"I know where they went," Sora replied. "It's a bit of a walk, though. They were down by some temple ruins on our home island."

Axel paused. "Temple ruins, huh…"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. There was an old temple behind some bushes near our school. It's collapsed by now, though."

For a brief moment, a grin spread across Axel's face, but it left quickly. "Can you take me there, by any chance?"

Riku and Sora exchanged glances. Was it really a good idea? "Getting to the main island might be a bit tricky," Riku started. "We've only got two boats and two bikes. Besides, I wouldn't wanna be around if those guys show up again."

"I can meet you nearby it rather than right at it," Axel suggested. "That way, we won't be seen in case someone's there."

"Sounds good to me," Sora said. "How about this evening?"

Axel nodded. "I'll be waiting."

As the two walked off for their boats, Riku gave Sora a suspicious look. "Are you sure you can trust him?" he asked. "He could be trying to trick you for all you care."

Sora just shook his head, untying his boat. "I just feel like I can trust him. Besides, if he wanted to hurt me, he could have already done it, and he probably knows something about that temple that might help us figure out what's going on."

Riku still wasn't sure, and they spent the rest of the trip over the sea in silence, their math homework completely forgotten.


	4. Return To The Ruins

This chapter took a while for even me to figure out. I never knew writing Axel accurately was so HARD, and I probably still didn't get it right. X.X

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Four: Return to the Ruins  
**

* * *

Sora was relieved to reach the shore of the main island and find his bike still where he left it. Tying his boat to the dock, Sora began to undo the combination lock as Riku followed behind him.

"I'm going to head on home," Riku said quietly. "You go on without me. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Something wrong?" Sora asked. Riku _never_ talked like that. Ever since they first met, Riku had always looked after Sora like he was a little brother. Now there was something…indiscernible in his tone. _Did I do something to make him mad?_

Riku sighed. "Slow as ever," he commented. "Look, you've still got all those kinks to work out in whatever happened when that temple fell on you, right? For one, I'd rather not have to run from another trigger-happy person bent on killing you again. Also, I'm going home to do my math homework…and yours too, for that matter."

Sora blinked. "Mine?"

"Consider it a favor," Riku replied, grinning. "Don't worry, I'll use my left hand so it's just as messy as your handwriting is. You should focus your evening on figuring out what happened to you."

Laughing, Sora clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Thanks, Riku. You're the best."

But Riku only smirked as he finished unlocking his own bike. "Be sure to fill me in on the juicy details tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "Only…don't tell Tidus and Wakka, okay? I know they're our friends, but you know how much they blab…"

"My lips are sealed," Riku assured him, moving his fingers across his mouth as though zipping it closed. "See ya later, Sora." With that, he rode off.

Sighing, Sora punted the kickstand out of place and began riding in the opposite direction as Riku, down the roads near the school. The sun was starting to set, but there were still a few islanders wandering around, so if anyone decided to try and kill him again they'd have to think twice about witnesses. He went past the town square, which consisted of a few converging roads with a large fountain in the center, and went down the gravel road, stopping part-way to walk and chain his bike to a small tree. When he approached the bushes outside and began to duck through out of habit, he paused, glancing around. _Axel said he'd meet me outside so we wouldn't be seen,_ he reminded himself before standing upright again. "Axel?" he called quietly. "You here?"

"I told you I'd meet you here, didn't I?"

Axel stood right behind Sora, partially hidden in a few bushes. He seemed to be keeping a close eye out for someone, or something, and motioned Sora over when he saw him. Jogging closer, Sora glanced around. "You don't have to hide. There's no one else here but us."

Relieved, the red-head stepped out of his hiding spot, brushing off the bottom half of his coat. "Alright. Lead the way, Sora."

He did. The walk was less than a minute long, and upon reaching the end, Sora peeked through the bushes. "The coast is clear," he said. "Come on."

After the two had pushed through the bushes, Axel crossed his arms and looked at the remains of the crumbled temple with interest. "Well, what do you know…I haven't been to _this _place in ages. I could have sworn the rocks were gray, not tan."

"You've been here before?" Sora asked.

"Yep," Axel admitted. "Long time ago. A friend of mine used to practically live in that old place. When did it fall down, again?"

Sora hung his head shamefully. "Just yesterday after I went in…"

Axel stared at Sora in astonishment. "You went in there?" he asked. "You're kidding me."

"No," Sora replied, shaking his head. "I'm not."

A strange expression of contemplation appeared on Axel's face. He stared at the ruins, then took a few steps forward. "Did you find anything inside?" He asked.

_Standard question,_ Sora observed, _But he sounds worried._ "Yeah…sort of. Why?"

Axel sighed. "Not keen on telling me what, huh? Well, whatever you did find, you probably shouldn't come near here again. It's dangerous here."

"Having a temple fall on top of you is dangerous," Sora retorted. "What could be worse?"

"A trigger-happy seeker shooting magical crossbow bolts at you," Axel replied flatly. "I can think of worse things than _that_, too."

Sora's thoughts screeched to a stop. How had this man known about him being attacked earlier that day? And on top of that… "Wait a minute," he mumbled. "Did you just say 'Seeker'?"

"Yep," Axel said, sounding surprised. "_Everyone _knows about the Seekers."

"But the Seekers were gone ages ago!" Sora protested, aghast. "You sound really familiar with at least one of them. They can't still be alive!"

Axel groaned. "Man, the history books are _definitely _missing a few pages. The Seekers are still around, Sora, and so is their power. I'm not sure I can say the same about the Chasers, though. I haven't seen any yet, but they were a pretty tiny group to begin with, so I'm not surprised."

"But what does all this have to do with the temple?" Sora asked. "And what about-"

"That's quite enough."

The two spun around to see a man in a black cloak emerging from behind them. While Axel's eyes narrowed, Sora was speechless. The voice was exceedingly familiar. But where had he heard it before…?

"Leave the kid alone," Axel said. "He didn't do anything to you."

"You think I can let him go quite that easily?" The stranger replied. "It's because of this _child_ that our plans have been ultimately ruined. _Your_ doings hardly amount in comparison, Axel."

Sora's eyes widened. "You know this guy?" he asked.

Axel replied without even turning his head: "I wish I didn't."

"You've got a lot of nerve to show your face around here," the stranger continued. "I should also note that bringing his descendant isn't a wise idea either."

"Lay a _finger _on the kid and I'll kill you _myself_," Axel growled. "Painfully."

Sora backed away, looking for anything he could defend himself with. A branch, a stick…even a bit of rubble would have come in handy right then. The stranger must have noticed him, because he heard a rush of footsteps and he was shoved across the ground, skidding and uprooting a few pieces of grass in the process. As Sora began to right himself, the man scoffed. "Then again, maybe he isn't anything to worry about. Only you would ally yourself to someone this weak, Axel."

Axel didn't seem too happy about this. "Alright, you've crossed the line, book boy!" In a whirl of heat, he spread his arms out by his sides and circles of flame appeared from thin air. He reached into the flames and they dispersed, revealing a red-and-white chakram in each hand. He wasted no time in charging forward and attacking the cloaked man, the chakrams in his hands still aflame. "Sora, get going!"

Sora didn't move. Were those…_flames_ in that guy's hand? That sort of thing wasn't possible!

"I'll have to inform our superior about this," the cloaked stranger said. "Enjoy your freedom while you can." With that, he snapped his fingers and was consumed by an explosion of darkness, causing him to vanish.

"Or he could run off before he posed any danger," Axel amended. "Looks like you're safe for now."

Sora blinked. "Me?" he echoed. "What about you? That guy obviously isn't your friend."

Axel sighed. "He never was," he said. "He's one of the last surviving Seekers." With that said, he dismissed his chakrams in a small burst of embers and stared at the ruins, walking toward them. "You said you went in here, right?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. "I always wanted to know what was inside, so I went in. Then I found something and it just collapsed. I'm lucky I made it out alive…"

"No kidding," Axel muttered. "The Seekers must be after whatever used to be in that temple."

_There he goes again…maybe he'll have some answers._ "Hey, Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"What all do you know about the Seekers?"

Axel paused, crossing his arms and staring at the ground for a moment. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you then," he muttered. "You're already involved in this, so knowing more will probably keep you safe."

Sora nodded eagerly, silently asking Axel to continue. The redhead looked up again. "The Seekers were a group of thirteen people who wanted to find a way to conquer the powers of Darkness and Light. At least, they started off with thirteen people, but one of their members that was in charge of studying the power of light left and formed the Chasers. Since the guy that left knew how to wield light and was bent on stopping them, the Seekers focused their studies on wielding Darkness. The groups were fighting on the Island of Light when…well, one of the Seekers turned traitor and turned the battle in the Chaser's favor. He did some serious damage, but the Seekers survived and they've been hunting him down ever since. They've also been after the power of light since the Chasers seem to be gone now, but they still haven't found it."

_The power of light…_

"But why were they enemies?" Sora asked. "Two groups don't clash without a reason."

Axel shook his head. "After one of their own left them, they probably weren't too happy. Their studies were apparently supposed to be top secret. That's just a guess, though. I'm not sure."

Sora gave Axel a wary glance. _Why do I get the feeling he's not telling the whole story?_

"Anyway," Axel continued, "What exactly did you find in there?"

"Can I trust you?" Sora asked immediately.

Though stunned at first, Axel chuckled. "Not every day someone asks me that," he commented. "You can already tell I'm not exactly in good standing with the Seekers. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

_He has a point. Besides…I kinda feel like I can trust him. Maybe he can help me._ "I went to the basement floor and there was this room that didn't match the others," Sora began. "In it was some pedestal with a little ball of light floating on it."

Axel froze, then nodded very slightly. "Go on."

Sora cleared his throat nervously. "Well, I guess I was just drawn in or something, so I reached forward and tried to touch it, but my fingers went through. Then the light…attacked me or something. It pinned me up against the doors then sort of disappeared. After that the place started falling apart."

There was an uneasy silence where Axel stared determinedly at the ruins. His eyes were narrow, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Sora winced, thinking he had struck a nerve. He was beginning to back away when Axel glanced at him. "Can you do me a favor?" he said.

"Sure," Sora replied worriedly. "What do you need?"

"This is going to sound weird," Axel said, "But I need to be sure of something. Close your eyes, and focus."

Sora closed his eyes, but didn't feel any different. "Erm…what do you want me to focus on?"

"The light that you saw in the temple," Axel replied. "Imagine it being deep in your heart, and drag it out of its hiding place in your mind. I know it sounds cheesy and it's not easy todo, but just try."

Shrugging, Sora took a deep breath. "Okay, here goes." He pushed away all stray thoughts in his mind and conjured up the memory of that day, with the light floating before him. He grit his teeth and focused on the memory, trying to freeze it in an ever-repeating stage. Barely noting that his fingertips were tingling, Sora felt a presence calling out to him. He called back to it in his mind. He wanted to know what it was, what it wanted, what it was trying to tell him.

There was a sudden rush of…_something_ speeding out of his heart and racing down his arm and into his fingers. Sora's eyes snapped open to find that his hand was outstretched in front of him and a light had appeared before him, swirling around and taking the same shape as the key he had found in his hands earlier that day. Startled, Sora fell on his rear in the grass, still staring at the object. "Wha…what is this thing?"

Axel grinned. "Man, I haven't seen that in a _long_ time…"

_What…?_ Sora thought, blinking. "You know what this is?"

"Sure do," Axel replied. "That's what that light was in the temple. The power of light that the Seekers were trying to harness…the same one that the Chasers obtained after one of the Seekers broke out of their group."

"The very same?" Sora breathed, his eyes wide.

"The very same," Axel confirmed. "The leader of the Chasers was the only one to wield it like this. It's called a Keyblade. Got it memorized?"

Upon hearing the weapon's name, Sora felt a little jolt of light within him – one joyful and compliant. It was telling him that what Axel said was true. "So…" he began. "This Keyblade…the leader of the Chasers used this?"

Axel shrugged. "Sort of. It's said that it's capable of working on any lock at all, and its wielder can use magic, too."

_Magic…_ Sora thought, eyes widening in realization. _Maybe that's what happened when the faucets froze over, and when the burner went out of control…_

"All in all," Axel continued, "It's a mystery where it came from, but everyone that knows about the Chasers can tell you that it came to their leader when he called on the light for help."

"Called on it for help?" Sora repeated. "What do you mean?"

Pausing, the red-head shook his head. Apparently he had spoken a bit too much. "Ah, nevermind. Not important."

Sora glanced back down at the keyblade and lifted it to his eye level. It had to be made of some kind of metal, judging from how it felt, but it felt so…_natural_ in his grip. Like he had held it all his life. And there was something oddly hypnotizing about it as well… "Axel, just how much do you know about this thing? About the keyblade and…_magic_?"

Axel laughed at how Sora pronounced the word with absolute wonder. "Well, I know that if you don't know how to control magic it can really get in your way more than it can help," he said. "You ran into that light yesterday, right? I bet you had some trouble with control today during school."

Remembering the bout with the chemistry burner and the frozen faucets, Sora felt his face turn red and he nodded. "Yeah…a lot."

"Lucky for you I know a bit of my own magic," Axel said, giving the boy a sly grin as he snapped his fingers and summoned a small flame in his hand. "I can teach you a few tips and tricks if you need it."

Sora's eyes widened in excitement. "Really? You'd do that?"

Axel nodded. "'course. I owe you for earlier, after all."

* * *

"_Sir, we have located the infiltrator."_

"_I assumed as much," the leader said to his underling, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "You found him at the Temple of Light?"_

"_Yes, sir," the subordinate replied. "He is not much of a threat, but we found that he was being protected by _him_."_

"_I wonder…"_

"_Sir?"_

"_I would like to learn more about this boy and see why he is being so fervently defended. Tell the _agents_ to keep a close eye on him, but do not harm him. I want to know just what we're up against; there is no need in being reckless if the light decides to fend him off."_

"_What about his protector, sir?"_

"_Ah, him…" the leader chuckled. "Let him have his fun, then dispose of him as quickly as possible."_

"_Yes, sir."_

_

* * *

_Before you guys ask, YES, there is a plot here, and NO, we will not be experiencing needless learning sequences that I tend to see all over the place. Next chapter will hopefully come soon...I feel writer's block coming on me D:_  
_


	5. The Sitarist

If the chapter name doesn't give away what happens in this chapter, I don't know what will.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Five: The Sitarist  
**

* * *

Sora went to bed that night feeling only half as satisfied as he normally did. Getting inside his house that evening had been quite easy; the keyblade had vanished before he even reached town square. The mysteries of the said keyblade, as well as the mysterious light, had been only partially solved; and though he trusted this Axel character, something seemed off about him. He knew far too much to be just some average, knowledgeable person, and he was especially familiar with the past of the Seekers and Chasers.

He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "Man, what am I _doing_?" he wondered aloud. "This is all way too weird to be real."

Then, a thought occurred to him. Axel mentioned he was going to help teach him to control whatever this 'magic' was…but why? He also seemed quite protective of him. For what reason? Sora felt a chill go up his spine. He paused, remembering that sensation before he had the incident with the faucets. Standing, he headed quietly to his bathroom and pulled out his tumbler from the cabinet, filling it with water and switching the faucet off before anything could happen to it. He set it on the counter and stared at it. _I have a hunch on this…maybe…_

The cold feeling on his spine pulsed as he focused. Tentatively, Sora picked up the glass with one hand and slowly poured its contents out, holding the other hand up with his palm facing the pouring water.

At first, nothing happened. Sora chuckled at himself. _What am I doing? I don't even know how this works. I should just wait for Axel-_

But the moment he would have turned away, the cold feeling in his spine shot down his arm. The air turned white for a moment before Sora found that the water – both in the cup and pouring out of it – had frozen solid. His eyes widening, Sora picked up the tumbler and moved it upright to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Sure enough, the water was frozen.

_Wow…cool._

* * *

Sora woke up earlier than usual the next morning, inhaling his breakfast and speeding down the road on his bike faster than he had ever done before. He waited in the front yard eagerly for Riku to arrive, and when the silver-haired boy finally did, he raced over to him.

"What's the rush?" Riku asked. "You find anything out?"

"You were right," Sora said, keeping his voice low. "It really _was _a seeker temple."

Riku's eyes widened. "You serious?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. Axel knows a lot about them. You know the guy that shot at us yesterday? He was a Seeker."

"But the Seekers were gone centuries ago. How are they back?"

"I dunno, but Axel says they are, and I trust him. He fought off one of them when they tried to attack me."

Riku's face took on an expression of relief, amazement, and agreement. "Well, that's a good reason, I guess."

"He knows about that sword that popped up in my hand, too," Sora continued. "He said it's called a keyblade…and the leader of the Chasers was said to be able to use it or something like that."

"So what does that make you?" Riku wondered. "You can't be a Chaser. You're not even in a club here in school."

Sora considered this for a moment, but then shrugged. "I dunno. Other than that, I _know_ I'm the one responsible for the chemistry burner blowing up."

"How?

After a short hesitation, Sora shrugged. "Axel said something about the keyblade and magic being related. Maybe that's it."

"You can't be serious," Riku replied.

"I am. You saw it happen, didn't you?"

Riku sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "I'm still finding all this hard to believe. I mean, I saw the keyblade, but…_magic_? Are you sure you're not just...?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno. I'll have to talk more with Axel about it. He didn't really say much before we ended up leaving."

"Right," Riku grumbled, pulling out a sheet of paper from his backpack. "I did your math homework for you. You owe me now."

"Gah!" Sora exclaimed, almost shoving the paper away. "I _knew_ you were going to have some sort of catch!"

There was a chuckle from the silver-haired boy as the mood shifted. "Take it. You know Mr. Braig never goes easy on us. You ganna be okay for the day? I'd hate to walk in on you setting something else on fire."

Sora grinned. "Don't worry. I'll manage."

Unfortunately, the school day went almost worse than the previous one. Homeroom was tougher than usual; Mr. Dilan was giving him a look that could peel paint. If the man wanted to hurt Sora, it showed, but he made no movement against him. The bell was like a resounding chime of freedom from the man's gaze, and Sora took off quickly.

Algebra with Mr. Braig was right after homeroom. After handing in his homework (and enduring another suspicious glare from his teacher), the lesson began, prompting Sora to stare out the window. He couldn't help but listen, and he found something oddly familiar about Braig. Sure, he had been his math teacher for a while, but something just seemed…off, but in place at the same time. He was able to get through his lesson with no problems, and made his way to English hurriedly to escape Braig's stares.

Luckily, Sora's English and Health classes went off without a hitch, and he began packing the moment the lunch bell went off, rushing to the schoolyard. _Three more classes after lunch to survive,_ he thought. _Thank Ventus it's Friday…_

When Sora arrived in the school yard, however, he felt his attention being drawn to the bushes. Looking closer, he noticed the face of a familiar red-headed man gesturing to him. Sora's eyes widened in shock before he glanced around warily, making sure no one was watching too intently, and he jogged over to the bushes, ducking behind them. "Axel! What're you doing here?"

"Don't get so upset," the redhead replied, grinning. "It's easy to hide around here. I just want to talk for a while"

"Now?" Sora asked, blinking. "Axel, I don't have more than half an hour…"

Axel waved it off. "That's plenty of time. If you can meet me back on that island where you found me, I'll try and teach you a few things after school."

"Sounds good to me," Sora replied. "I haven't had any problems yet today, other than the dirty looks I keep getting from teachers."

"Can't help you there," Axel said, grinning. "My specialty isn't teachers, I'm afraid."

Sora shrugged. "Didn't think so," he mumbled back, opening up his lunch bag. "You hungry? I can give you half of my sandwich."

Axel stared at the offering in Sora's hand and cautiously took it up. "Thanks," he said, peeking between the loaves of bread before taking a bite out of it. He quirked an eyebrow. "Huh, not bad. A lot better than the stuff I used to have to eat."

"It's not much," Sora admitted. "I was in so much of a hurry this morning that I just kinda threw something together." He took a bite out of his own half. "What were you doing in that cave yesterday, anyway? It's not really the best place to take a nap."

The question caused Axel to freeze for a few seconds before he shrugged. "Well, my memory's still a bit hazy. I don't remember clearly what I was doing beforehand, but I woke up and saw you and your pal hovering over me. Thought I was dead for a moment there."

Sora stared at the ground. Once again, he felt like Axel wasn't telling him everything, but he nodded anyway. "So you don't remember?"

"I wouldn't say that," Axel replied. "The memory's just fuzzy, that's all."

"You sure remember a lot about the Seekers and all," Sora commented. "You some kind of time traveler?"

Axel laughed. "I guess you could put it that way. You keep talking about the Seekers being gone for centuries…looks like whatever happened to me dumped me through a time warp. Either way though, it looks like they're still around."

Sora shook his head as he pondered the thought. "It's weird…"

"Huh?"

"My teacher was telling us about the war between the Chasers and Seekers just two days ago," Sora mumbled. "He said that the temples belonged to the Seekers or something, but he said no one knew why. Then he said that the Chasers were really well-liked, and they were constantly clashing with the Seekers. He said no one knew why that was, either, but they went at it for two years until one of the Seekers turned traitor and blew something up, and they said that he killed all the Seekers, including himself."

Axel flinched noticeably.

"After that the temples were abandoned," Sora continued. "There's a lot of bits and pieces missing from the story, but you know a lot about those pieces. Suddenly I feel like…well…"

"That you aren't sure about what you thought you believed was right?" Axel suggested.

Sora nodded. "Yeah…from what you told me, the Seekers and Chasers didn't just _think_ that they could get that power…they _knew_, and they succeeded. The reason why they fought so much _has_ to be related to that. Can't you tell me?"

Axel shook his head, his eyes narrowed determinedly. "Sora, some things are better left unsaid."

The bell resounded across the yard. Axel patted Sora on the shoulder and stood. "Meet me on the island later today, okay? You can ask all the questions you want."

Sora stood, packing his things into his backpack. When he slung it on, he turned around to thank Axel, only to find the man gone. _How does he _do _that?_ He wondered before heading back inside.

* * *

On his way to History, Sora found his mind wandering again. He did his best not to think on the light too much, as he knew that's how the keyblade appeared when he had spoken with Axel near the temple yesterday. He was sorting through his locker when he felt someone tap on is shoulder. "Not now, Tidus. I need to head to class."

"Sora?"

The spiky-haired brunette blinked, recognizing the voice. He turned around, surprised to see Kairi looking back at him in concern. "Ah…Kairi! Um…hi. Can I help you or…?"

The girl smiled warmly. "I never got a chance to thank you for yesterday."

Sora's thoughts screeched to a halt. "Thank…me?"

"Yeah," Kairi replied. "In Chemistry the other day, when we were working with that mixture and it caught on fire…you helped put it out, right?"

_Wh…I did? But shouldn't she be mad that I caused it in the first place?_ "Um…well, I guess I did…"

Kairi giggled cheerfully. Sora smiled shyly back as she gently pushed a strand of dark red hair out of her soft, blue eyes. _She is kinda pretty…_ he mused. While the thought remained in his mind, he felt his fingers tingle. He ignored it.

"Well, thanks, Sora. I don't think Professor Even was too happy with you, but I'm really grateful."

"I-It was nothing," Sora stuttered. The tingling grew stronger, and he felt his hand suddenly grasping metal. His eyes flickered very quickly to his hands, where he spotted the keyblade. _Crap! I can't let her see-_

"Is something wrong?"

Sora tucked the weapon behind him at record speed and tried to come up with something. "What? Oh, nothing. Actually, you see, um, I was putting some stuff in my locker before I headed off to history, and…"

Kairi chuckled. "I see. Well, I have to head off to health. See you later!" With that, she jogged off.

Once the girl was out of eyeshot and he was sure the hallway was empty, Sora took the keyblade back out in front of him and stared at it. "Why are you out now?" he asked. "I didn't call you."

The light in his heart gave a short jump. It was a moment before Sora realized he was being laughed at, and he didn't know what to feel first: embarrassment or shock that the weapon had a mind of its own. He ended up feeling neither when the tardy bell rang.

_Crap!_ He spun around and attempted to stuff the keyblade in his locker. It didn't fit. Grumbling, he found that his backpack was also too small. After a moment of contemplation, the weapon disappeared on its own, and Sora shrugged. _I really need to figure out how it does that,_ he thought as he hurried off to History.

Needless to say, Mr. Ienzo wasn't too thrilled to see Sora rushing into the door, but thankfully he wasn't issued a punishment. Considering his good fortune, Sora sat and quietly took notes for the duration of the class, with half his mind on academics and the other half looking forward to going to the island to see Axel that afternoon. Oddly, when the bell rang, he found himself not leaving as quickly as he had anticipated.

"Sora, may I see you for a moment?"

The boy paused, casting an odd glance to Ienzo. "Um…sure," he replied. "Did you need something, sir?"

Ienzo sat back in his chair. "I heard from local authorities that you were seen at the temple near the school two days ago," he said. "Would you mind telling me what you were doing there?"

_Local authorities?_ Sora echoed. _But no one really goes down there. You'd have to make a ruckus in the bushes to even get in. It's not exactly a place to sneak up on. Unless Tidus or Wakka blabbed to the cops, but even then…_ "Erm…I was just looking around. I've been to those ruins every morning before school since I was a kid."

"I see," Ienzo replied. "Then perhaps you would like to know more about them?"

Sora blinked. "But you said barely anything was known about the temples…"

Ienzo nodded. "I did. However, I know some things about that temple specifically. It is known as the Temple of Light, and it used to be a Seeker Temple before the one in control of that temple in particular left the group and formed the Chasers. As such, it became the only temple that the Chasers had."

_The Temple of Light…? Seems fitting, since I _did_ find that light in there._ "Do you know anything else?"

"Yes," Ienzo replied. "But only this: the one in control of that temple…I know his name, but nothing more."

"What was he called?" Sora asked eagerly.

There was a moment before Ienzo replied, his expression suddenly filled with pain for some reason. "His name was Roxas."

* * *

"Roxas, huh?" Riku muttered as he and Sora walked toward Chemistry. "Think Axel will know anything about him?"

"Probably," Sora replied, shrugging. "Something was really odd about Mr. Ienzo today, though…he seemed kinda down or something like that."

Riku shrugged. "Wakka said he saw him arguing with Mr. Braig earlier. He walked out looking pretty glum."

"He and Braig get along though," Sora mumbled. "Wonder what they were talking about?"

The conversation left as quickly as it came while Sora entered the chemistry classroom. Not to his surprise, it was empty; the lab assignment from the previous day was being carried over thanks to his mishap. Professor Even left him a few worksheets to keep him occupied, thankfully, but Sora still found himself frustrated.

He was on the last problem when he heard the door open. In peeked a young man with his hair done up with a few strands falling about his face and the rest falling back into a mullet. There were a pair of straw sandals on his feet, and he also a pair of worn jeans, a light blue T-shirt and a worn denim vest. He looked around for a moment and sighed. "This isn't the music room either?"

Sora stared for a moment. "Um…can I help you, sir?"

The man finally noticed Sora and stared with wide, surprised eyes for a moment before shaking out of his stupor. "Oh, no! I mean, um…" He sighed, entering the room with a large, blue sitar in his arms. "You think you could tell me where the music room is? I'm supposed to be visiting a class today…"

"We haven't had a music room in this school for about ten years," Sora replied, biting his lip. "Destiny High is kinda small for one…"

"Oh," the young man replied, face sinking. "Sorry for bothering you, then."

"It's okay," Sora replied. "I'm banned from doing any more labs for the rest of the semester, so I'm stuck in here doing worksheets. It's kinda lonely."

Hearing this, the stranger grinned. "You wouldn't mind some company, then? I've been alone for quite some time myself."

Sora smiled. He liked this person already. "Nah, I don't mind. I'm Sora."

The young man nodded. "Nice to meet you, Sora. Name's Demyx. I'm…well, I'm a sitarist."

"A what?"

Demyx chuckled. "I play the sitar," He said, holding up the instrument in his hands for a few moments. "Well, I haven't really _played_ it in a while…"

Sora tilted his head. "Why's that?"

"Eh, never really had the chance," Demyx replied, sitting in one seat and plucking a few strings absently. "I used to play for my friends all the time…can't find them anywhere nowadays. I guess they moved to other islands or the mainland or something…"

"I'm sure you'll find them," Sora said, grinning and scribbling an answer to the last question, and placing his pencil down. "What do they look like?"

Demyx shrugged. "I haven't seen them in ages…it's hard to remember some of their faces."

"One of those 'know 'em when you see 'em' sort of things?"

"Pretty much." Demyx glanced out the window for a moment. "Kinda weird, though. You look just like one of them."

Sora blinked. "I…do?"

"Sure do. Same face, same eyes. Rest of you is pretty different, though…" As his voice trailed off, Demyx glanced at the clock nervously. Finally he stood, picking up his sitar and holding it in his arms carefully. "Well, I'd better get going. My friends are bound to be around here somewhere. There's a lot of places I haven't looked yet."

"Good luck," Sora said, smiling.

Demyx grinned. "Thanks, Sora. You too. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

Sora nodded. "Sure hope so."

When the door closed, Sora went to double-checking his worksheet, noticing that he only had ten minutes of class time left. Something, however, struck him oddly, a sense of odd that he recognized from when he met Axel. He had never met this Demyx fellow before…so why did he seem so _familiar_ to him?

* * *

HELLO DEMYX! XD

Yeah, he was going to show up in one of my fics sooner or later.


	6. Suspect

If someone can come up with a better name for this chapter, let me know. I hate this one.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Six: Suspect**

* * *

"No, no, not like that! Put more oomph into it!"

Sora felt like screaming very, very angrily; it was something he was probably good at right around now. Axel had been trying to show him how to control his magic, but every time he thought about it his mind wandered and it'd act on its own. Eventually, since it was apparent that the magic stored up in him wanted to get out, Axel decided to show him how to actually use it first so he could 'get it out of his system.' Now that he was actually making use of the magic, however, it didn't want to cooperate in any shape manner or form whatsoever, and came out in tiny spurts. Sora had no clue what he was doing wrong if he couldn't manage to light something on fire.

Axel shook his head. "What were you doing when you even made that thing explode in your class, anyway?" he asked.

"I really don't know," Sora replied. "I felt kinda hot in there, but no one else did. Maybe I was just thinking on it too much. Then when I was trying to turn up the heat on the burner, there was some sort of flash down my arm and it set off."

"And there you go," Axel replied, smirking. "I'm not an expert, but I know the basics of these things…mostly simple stuff like this." He snapped his fingers and summoned a little ball of fire in his hand.

Sora gazed at the flame in wonder. "You can use magic, too?"

"You saw it yesterday," Axel said. "When I pulled out my chakrams, remember? Although, that wasn't really magic, but something around the same concept when I had to keep them lit. Fire's always been my specialty, so it's not that hard for me."

"But how do you control it like that?" Sora asked.

Axel grinned, idly tossing the flame in his hand. "Everyone has the _capacity_ for magic, Sora. Some are better at certain magic than others, but for everyone it's just a matter of discovering it and learning to use it." He opened his fingers wider and the flame expanded. "The main fuel for magic is nothing short of imagination. Got it memorized? It's why a lot of creative people like artists and musicians tend to be great magicians, too."

"Imagination?"

"Yep." Axel pulled one hand over the sphere of flame, causing it to flare up and take a very similar shape to Sora himself – right down to the last detail – before he made it a sphere again. "No imagination, no magic. Of course, that right there was pretty advanced, and you don't really use it for anything except to show off. Basic stuff is easier to keep your focus with, and it's the most useful. It takes practice, but it's not hard once you get the hang of it."

Sora crossed his arms. "That kinda makes sense, I guess. Do you know anyone else that can use magic?"

Axel sat down on the beach and looked out at the water, dismissing the fire in his hand. "Heh…I knew _lots_ of them. None of them could use multiple forms of magic like you can, though, just one. There was a girl I knew that could manipulate lightning really well…she had a short fuse, so you _never_ got on her bad side…and one of my other friends had control over water. He wasn't really great at fighting or defending himself, but he was one of the best musicians I ever met."

"Really?" Sora asked, taking a seat next to Axel.

The man laughed. "Yeah. We weren't close or anything, but we _were_ pals. Sometimes I'd pass by him when he was alone and he wouldn't know I was there…he'd be singing or dancing or playing his own music. He was really great at it, and eventually I convinced him to do a song for me. When he did, he noticed that the water was responding to his music."

"So he controlled water with music?"

Axel nodded. "Yep. Lousy fighter, but great musician _and_ magician. I miss him."

"Did you know anyone _else_?" Sora asked, now curious and eager for more. Axel sure got around; was he part of some magician's guild or something?

"Aside from the water boy and lightning woman?" Axel began. "Heh, like I said, I knew a lot…one guy could control the wind, but it's beyond me why he never used it to fly; that would have been fun. Then there was that other guy who had a thing for plants; I don't think I ever looked at a rose the same way again after he got in a fight with me. There was only one person I knew that could use every type of magic, but…" He stared at the ground. "I don't know if he's still alive."

Sora tilted his head. It didn't seem like Axel to get worked up over anything. "Who was it?" he asked.

"My best friend," Axel said, staring at the slowly darkening sky. "Looked a lot like you. Almost acted the same, too. He preferred not to use magic all that much, even though he was capable, and he was pretty good at it…he just didn't excel in any area other than light, since that was his main focus."

"Light…?"

"Yep. He was the one that broke off from the Seekers and formed the Chasers as their leader. He had studied light for a long time and by the time he left he already knew a lot of its secrets. He was a really skilled magician, but he had the makings of a warrior, too. Best friend I could have ever asked for, too…he was a great guy."

_He couldn't have…_ "You mean," Sora began, "You _knew_ Roxas?"

Axel froze, his reminiscing look vanishing from his face. "How did you know his name?"

Sora hesitated. "Um, well…my teacher in history class…he pulled me over for a while after class ended and told me that Roxas had controlled the Temple of Light that I visited and he formed the Chasers…"

"Who is your teacher?" Axel asked sternly.

"Mister Ienzo," Sora replied, startled at the redhead's sudden change in tone. "Why?"

The response was hardly something Sora expected. Axel's eyes went wide. "_Ienzo_," he echoed, standing. "He's teaching history now? But why? I thought they tried to cover their tracks…"

"Something wrong?" Sora asked, standing.

Axel ignored the question. "Come here," he said, motioning Sora to follow him to the secret cave. "I need to tell you something."

* * *

"_I won't do it."_

_One of the cloaked men sighed, shaking his head. "If you don't, then I will. That child is being protected, so he's got to be worth something."_

"_He is just a boy," the younger one protested once again. "I cannot allow you to do this."_

_The older cloaked man scowled. "You should consider yourself a Deserter if you harbor thoughts like that. You know what our goal is."_

"_But our goal is _wrong_! Can't you see what's been happening to us? The Deserters were right in leaving; delving in such power will only doom us!"_

_In response, the older man whipped around, holding a long, pointed metal object at the shorter, its tip at his opponent's throat. "I suggest you leave quickly before I have to use my other five lances, and I'll be doing more than just pointing them at you."_

_And leave he did. A swirl of darkness consumed him as he fled. He wasn't fast enough; the lance rushed after him, slashing him across the ribs and eliciting a scream of pain from him. It made to stab him through the chest, but a portal of darkness appeared and he vanished through it._

_The man recalled his lance and dismissed it in a swirl of colorless wind. "Run while you can," he growled before turning and leaving._

* * *

"Mister Ienzo is a _Seeker_?!"

Axel nodded. "Yep. The Seekers were ordered to keep their tracks covered as tightly as possible, and they did it well. That's why not much is known about them. Ienzo, a-k-a Zexion, was one of their most intelligent members. Kept most of the records. If he's the one that told you about Roxas, then he probably either went and joined the Deserters, or he's trying to bait you."

Sora blinked, leaning against the stone wall. "Deserters?" he asked.

"A group of Seekers that broke off from the group," Axel explained lightly. "It happened recently, when they all came back. I guess when they had that battle here on this island they figured that what they were doing was wrong or something to that effect. Some left before then, but they didn't give themselves a name. They just went and joined the Chasers, so they weren't their own group or anything."

"What're the Deserters doing now?" Sora asked.

"No idea," Axel said, staring upward through the only hole in the cave. "Probably working undercover to stop the Seekers since they're back and all. I guess they don't want to go back to being called the Chasers because they'd get some serious attention, and they wouldn't want that. They're in bad shape without Roxas, though…"

Sora hung his head. According to what he had heard, this Roxas person was not only powerful and brave, but had created the turning point of the war, even if he did cause it in the first place. If anyone could stop the Seekers, it'd be him, but now Roxas's power belonged to Sora, and he wasn't sure if he could use it. Unless… "Is Roxas still around?"

Axel gave Sora a surprised look. "I doubt it," he replied. "The keyblade would tell him to come back here if he was needed." He stared at the ground. "He was always talking about it…the day that he finally managed to figure out the mystery of the light, the keyblade was speaking to him. He never told me how it was, he just said it did. If he were here right now, I'm pretty sure he'd be able to help you more than I ever could. He's the one that could use the keyblade, after all."

There was a tone in Axel's voice that Sora couldn't quite discern. Was it sadness? Jealousy? Whatever it was, it made him concerned. "You said you were friends with him," Sora began. "You were friends with Roxas. But wasn't he a Seeker for a while?"

"He was," Axel replied. "Then he left…and made the Chasers. Told me that things shouldn't be the way they were, and that the power they were studying was too powerful to tamper with. Still makes me wonder why he used it, though. What I'd give to talk to him again…"

It pained Sora that there was nothing he could do. Biting his lip, he looked at the dirt beneath his feet before looking at Axel again…something about the man being upset strongly bothered him.

That was when he felt something new in his mind…something comforting and warm. He felt it snake out of his heart and down his arms. In realizing that magic was taking place, he snapped his gaze downward, noticing that once again, he had been doing magic on his own without thinking about it. His hand was glowing green. Not an icky green that he normally saw in his refrigerator from foods that he never knew existed (and probably shouldn't), but a calming, emerald green that reminded him of the leaves on the paopu trees and the grass around the temple of light. The moment he had snapped out of his thoughts, however, it had vanished.

Tilting his head, Sora flexed his fingers a bit before looking back up. "I need to head on home," he said, noting the dimming sky through the hole in the ceiling. "Mom's going to wonder where I am if I stay too long, even if it is Friday."

Axel smiled faintly. "Alright, then. Weekend coming up, right? Have fun. Don't forget to visit; it gets lonely out here."

"I promise," Sora replied, waving before he jogged out.

* * *

On the way home, Sora found himself pondering Axel's words on magic and past magic users. Imagination was the key, it had seemed…he sat still, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath of the salty, sea air before resuming his paddling. Things went quietly for a while before the wind began to twist around. Normally Sora wouldn't pay attention, but he had lived on these islands for years, and he knew wind didn't move like that. He glanced around, noting the presence of a man in a black cloak hovering behind him. In his hand was a long, wickedly sharp lance, two similar lances in his other hand, and three more circling him.

"Seeker," Sora said, narrowing his eyes.

"Not bad," the man replied. "You catch on fairly quickly for a child."

Sora was taken aback not by the man's comment, but by his voice. _It's just like the guy back at the temple…I've heard this voice before, but where?!_

"I see Axel has been tutoring you," the man continued. "No matter. I doubt you'll ever be a threat like Roxas was."

_Roxas…!_ "You know about Roxas?" Sora cried. "Where is he?!"

The man laughed. "Dead, I suppose," he said. "Roxas remained in his own time. He was foolish enough to leave his power behind, however…such a shame, we were so close to taking it before you wormed your way in past the barriers."

_Barriers? What's he talking about?_

"And we can't have you interfering. I don't care what that fool begs me to do; I'm getting rid of you."

Sora's first instinct was to jump off of his canoe and swim underwater quickly so that the man could not reach him, but he remembered two important facts:

1: the man couldn't go underwater, but his lances could.

2: Sora didn't know how to swim.

It was ironic that Sora couldn't swim, even though he had lived on the islands for several years. The truth of the matter was that Sora could indeed swim, but he wasn't very good at it, and didn't know how to hold his breath. Whenever he visited a pool, he would always stay in the shallow end, and didn't trust himself to go to the deeper side since the best he could do was dog-paddle. It was also the reason why he rarely went to the Island of Light alone: being capsized was a great fear of his.

The man in black hurled one of his lances at Sora, whom scurried to the back of his boat. It missed him by inches, but punctured a hole in the bottom of the boat. As the lance was removed, he hurriedly placed his foot over it to stop the leak, but not much could be helped as the water still seeped in. His heart pounded in his ears.

"Very well. I'll do this the hard way, then." The man lifted his lances into a serpentine shape, with three spreading outward at the end. A strong gust of wind tore forward, and hurled Sora out of the boat and dunked him into the sea.

The sound of wind and seagulls and water sloshing up against the side of his boat was quickly replaced by water blocking out all other noises, his breath being stolen from him, and the blood rushing in his ears. Sora panicked, flailing desperately to reach the surface. Nothing helped, and he began to choke as the salt water stung his eyes and throat. Above him, the man vanished in an explosion of darkness. Slowly, the world began to darken around Sora as he drowned further and further into the sea.

Then he heard it. A note. Another note. More notes, stringing together into a song. The player of the song humming along. The water shifted around Sora, pushing him back upward somehow. He made out the vague form of a somewhat familiar young man swimming toward him just before his vision went black.


	7. Deserters

This chapter is kinda sloppy...sorry, guys. Was ganna be longer, but I found an interesting place to end.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Seven: Deserters**

* * *

He was floating in the darkness, a soft sensation of the wind curling around him in comfort. No, not wind…_water_. Even though Sora couldn't swim, he felt at peace. He tried to open his eyes, but something kept them shut. In the darkness behind his eyelids, he could make out a softly glowing figure approaching him, and he wrenched his eyes open.

_So _you're_ the guy that came in. I was wondering if anyone would ever get past the barrier I set up._

Sora hesitated when he heard the voice. "Who are you…?"

_Who am I? Well, if it's that important, I could tell you…but it's not. Compared to what I'm here for, anyway._

"What you're here for? What's that supposed to mean?"

_You've got a lot on your shoulders, Sora. I'll be here to help you a bit on the way, so don't worry so much, okay?_

"A lot on my shoulders? But I'm not in the middle of a war or anything…"

_You will be, but don't worry. I'm sure you'll be fine._

The light began to fade, and Sora reached out for it. "Wait! I don't even know who you are!"

_You will, Sora. You will._

He was about to call out again when his eyes snapped open. Sora didn't recognize the room he was in; it reminded him more of a shack than anything. He was lying on an old couch (it was torn up in a few places, but still usable) in front of a small coffee table, and nearby was a small corner of the room shifted into a kitchen, with a small refrigerator, several cabinets, a microwave and a sink. In front of the sink was a familiar person that Sora had seen earlier that day, running a small cloth under the running faucet. He could see a bit of steam coming out of the water.

"You're awake," the person said. "I was getting worried that you drowned for good. Took forever to pump all that water out of your lungs, you know."

Sora sat up, rubbing his eyes before his vision cleared and he could make out the individual. "…Demyx?"

The man nodded, not looking up from the sink. "Yep, that's me. Now that I've helped ya, though, they're going to come after me, too." He turned off the faucet and squeezed out the rag he was rinsing, folding it over and walking over to Sora and placing it on his forehead and pushing him back down on the couch. "Here. Don't sit up; you still don't look all that great."

"You know about the seekers?" Sora asked quietly, feeling himself calm when the warm, damp cloth was placed on him.

"I used to _be_ one," Demyx replied somewhat sadly. "But I quit. Joined the Deserters. I'm sure you know all about that."

"How come you left?" Sora asked.

Demyx chuckled. "Figured you'd ask. Roxas said that they were dabbling in stuff that should never be touched. I was in denial at first…pretty sure you would be, too, if you had worked to get that far only to figure out that the research was better left alone…but after we were all nearly killed, it really hit me that we should stop, so I did."

Sora was about to ask another question when he heard a voice from up the stairs. "Demyx! Did you drag another puppy in? If the landlord finds us out, he'll tan our hides, you _know_ that!"

"It's not a puppy!" Demyx called back to the woman's voice. "It's a _person_! And he was about to drown, for Aqua's sake!"

There was a quick flurry of footsteps as Sora noticed a woman heading down the stairs. She wore a pair of tight khaki Capri pants and a quarter-sleeved yellow shirt, and was just pulling a similar khaki vest over it when she arrived on the first floor. She had blonde hair, which was slicked back with two sections spiked up in what closely resembled antennae. By the time she caught sight of Sora, she froze, emerald eyes locked on him before sneering in disgust. "Demyx, does the phrase 'remaining hidden' mean _anything_ to you?"

Demyx crossed his arms. "Yeah. Why?"

"Idiot," the woman grumbled. "You _do_ realize the Seekers are after this kid for some unexplained but obviously important reason, right? One of them could have followed you here!"

"They thought he was dead, Larxene," Demyx replied calmly. "Besides, he nearly drowned. If he's a threat to the Seekers, I'm not going to let him die. He could help us."

"Would someone please explain to me what's going on?" Sora asked loudly, hoping to catch the two in their argument.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Long story short, we're rebels against a faction of evil sorcerers and we're trying not to reveal ourselves to the said enemy, so when Xaldin tried to kill you Demyx probably ruined all of our hard work just to save your life."

There was a long silence as Sora tried to comprehend what the woman had just told him. With a sigh, Demyx knelt at the Sora's side and lifted the rag, wiping the excess water off of his forehead. "I think the long story is a better option right now, Larxene."

"Right," Larxene grumbled. "Look, kid…"

"I have a name," Sora protested.

"Good for you," Larxene continued, ignoring his comment. "Demyx and I are one of the very few Deserters, a group of people that left the Seekers. See, the Seekers were originally formed around the concept of studying the powers of light and darkness. At least, that's what we were first told. The leader, Xemnas, placed himself in charge of studying the darkness, while he shoved ol' Rock Sack in the position of studying light."

"Rock sack?" Sora echoed.

"Roxas," Demyx explained. "He was really young when he joined. No parents, no siblings…he just wanted a place to belong. Xemnas took him in, but he never explained why."

Larxene took a seat on an old armchair and crossed her arms. "Roxas was only around your age, but he was a great fighter. He could outdo any of us. One day while he was studying the light, he apparently made a huge discovery and just left. His buddy Axel probably knows more about it than we do…they hung out all the time."

_So they know Axel,_ Sora thought. _Why am I not surprised…_

"We figured out on our own though," Demyx pointed out. "If you delve into darkness too deeply, it'll control you. There was a huge storm that Xemnas summoned on the night of the final battle. No one could stop it, not even Roxas, so Axel took a last resort and tore the place apart, hoping to jerk Xemnas out of his trance and stop the storm."

"Did it work?" Sora asked, eager to hear more.

"Nope," Larxene replied. "He stopped the storm alright, and he did tear the place apart…but he nearly killed everyone there, and he definitely didn't change Xemnas's mind. It's still blurry how we _did_ manage to get out, but we did, and now we know the hard way what we were doing was wrong." She sat up, looking rather annoyed. "Anything else for this round of twenty questions, Sora?"

Sora nodded and sat up. If these people were against the Seekers like Axel was, perhaps he could trust them. He closed his eyes, reaching inside his heart for the familiar signature of the keyblade. He felt his hand reach out in front of him and his fingers spread as the keyblade appeared. Opening his eyes, he rested the weapon in his lap, noting the shocked expressions on Larxene and Demyx's faces. "What can you tell me about _this_?"

Larxene was clearly alarmed, and scrambled out of her chair so fast it tipped backward and fell. "Where in Ventus's name did you get that?!" she cried.

"I guess I found it," Sora replied. "In the Temple of Light… but after I went exploring in there, it started falling down over me, so I can't go back in…"

"So that's why they wanted you," Demyx muttered. "It can't be…only Roxas could…"

"That's the same keyblade that Roxas wielded," Larxene said sharply. "And when he left it behind, he had a barrier up…"

"Barrier?" Sora asked.

"Roxas knew that the Seekers would be back," Demyx explained. "When he couldn't wield the light anymore, he locked it up in a secret chamber in the Temple of Light. The doors to that chamber won't even open unless someone there can get past the barrier, and that barrier won't just let anyone in; only people worthy of wielding the light or Roxas's descendants."

"And there are _more_ wards after that," Larxene said, a mixture of surprise and exasperation in her voice as she retrieved her chair. "The light will attack anyone on sight the moment they enter the room if they try to steal it for themselves. I saw it once before; it's pretty violent and I don't feel like seeing it again."

"It attacked _me_," Sora pointed out. "But…I don't know. If it didn't think I was capable of handling it, I don't think I'd still have it…"

"Probably testing you," Demyx explained, sounding strangely casual. "If you can _withstand_ the light, then you can _wield_ it. Darkness doesn't work that way, unfortunately…"

"Anyone can wield darkness," Larxene scowled. "Problem is that it doesn't need a test, so usually people get curious with how much can be done with it, and that's a question we're probably better off not knowing." She shot Sora a glare. "What possessed you to go in that temple, anyway?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno. I always liked to visit it ever since I was a kid…just a few days ago I went in, and all this came up. I never really got curious enough to go inside until my teacher taught me about it, but I just found out today that he's a Seeker, too."

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Welcome to our world, kid. You don't know who you can trust unless they've saved you from death, and even then they could be using you. If the Seekers are in your school, you'd probably be better off putting survival over academics. The less they know, the better."

"But what do I do until then?" Sora asked.

"Nothing," the woman shot back. "The Deserters are busy enough trying to locate the Seekers' stronghold and get rid of them. Keyblade or not, you'll _never_ amount to who Roxas was. Go home, kid."

Sora was about to protest when Demyx did it for him. "Larxene, isn't that a bit harsh? I know you're upset, but-"

Larxene spun on him, her eyes glowering. "If you're that worried, Demyx, then escourt him back to his house. I don't care whether he has that power or not; he'll never be the hero Roxas was." And with that, she stormed back upstairs.

* * *

"_It would seem that the Deserters grow in number, Superior."_

_The leader of the Seekers nodded. "Yes. I am aware of this."_

_The minion nodded. "I have returned from my duty. The boy escaped, but we know where he lives."_

"_Good work. We must do away with him as soon as possible. One of our members has reported that he carries Roxas's power, and that the traitor aids him."_

"_Are you certain?"_

"_Yes. He must be eliminated as soon as possible. I want everyone on this mission immediately."_

"…_yes, sir."_

* * *

Demyx sighed, standing and motioning Sora to do the same. "I wouldn't worry about Larxene," he grumbled. "She's always like that, ever since she figured out the truth about the Seekers."

"Is she right about it, though?" Sora asked, standing and fingering the keyblade idly. "About Roxas being better and all that?"

"Who knows?" Demyx replied, leading the boy to the back door. "The keyblade is a mystery to all but its wielder. When she talks about staying away from school though, that's not a bad idea, especially if your teacher is a seeker." He pushed open the door. "Mind telling me a few of their names?"

Sora nodded, glancing at the keyblade momentarily. "Um…the ones I remember right off are Ienzo, Even, Ealeus, Braig…and Dilan."

Demyx bit his lip. "I see," he replied. "Larxene's right. You'll definitely want to stay away from school." He closed the door behind him tightly

The walk back to Sora's house was a short one. It wasn't quite evening yet, but Sora was exhausted from that day, having trained with Axel and nearly drowned on his way home. He winced at the thought; he'd have to get a new boat to head to the island with.

"You okay from here?" Demyx asked as they stopped in front of Sora's home.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Demyx nodded. "Just shout if you need me," he said, walking off and vanishing behind the corner of a nearby house.

With a sigh, Sora headed inside, noting that his parents were late coming home from work. _At least they won't wonder where I've been._ He grabbed a packet of pop-tarts out of the pantry and tore open the wrapping, biting into one of the pastries before exiting the room.

He was about to trudge up the stairs to his room when the phone rang. Shrugging, he walked over to the wall near the kitchen and pulled the receiver off the wall. "Hello, Kagi residence."

"Hey, Sora! You comin' to the game tonight?"

_Good evening to you too, Wakka,_ Sora thought with a grin. "Yeah, I'm coming. Has it started yet?"

"Opening ceremony's already passed. If you hurry you'll be able to see the first half!"

"I'll be right there," Sora replied, hanging up and racing outside. He hopped onto his bike, shoving the last of his first pop-tart into his mouth before speeding off.

It was then that a thought occurred to him. Larxene had warned him not to go to school. Had she meant reveal himself to his teachers? Or was it something else? Shrugging, he cast the thought aside and raced down the street.

Behind him, a cloaked figure watched closely. His image flickered unstably, and he crossed his arms. "So _you're_ Sora," he muttered. He smiled, and vanished without a trace.


	8. Ambushed!

I suck at fight scenes.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Eight: Ambushed!**

* * *

Sora braked his bike next to the rack near the entrance to the school and hastily chained it up. _I can't be late! This game is important!_ He shifted his backpack and ran across the school yard for the stands. Ahead, he saw Riku, Tidus, and Wakka speaking to each other. They noticed him quickly, and waved. "Where've you been all day?" Tidus asked. "We didn't even see you at lunch!"

"You been eatin' with Denset?" Wakka asked with a sly grin.

The thought of Kairi making his cheeks flush, Sora shook his head. "N-No! I just…we've had a few problems at home, s-so I just wanted to eat alone…y'know, got a lot on my mind and all…" He gave a helpless glance to Riku, whom nodded knowingly, but still wasn't very pleased with Sora's secrecy."

"Let's go, Wakka," Tidus said, elbowing his red-headed friend in the ribs. "We're about to go in, and we don't wanna keep Chappu waiting."

Wakka nodded. "Right. See you guys after the game!" Then he and Tidus ran off.

Once they were out of earshot, Sora edged closer to Riku so he could whisper. "I'm sorry I didn't see you at lunch today, Riku…"

Riku scoffed, leading his friend to the stands. "Look, Sora, I know you're going through a lot, but you don't have to keep it from me. I'm your best friend. We can trust each other, right?"

Sora bit his lip, remembering what Larxene had said. _"You don't know who you can trust unless they've saved you from death, and even then they could be using you."_ "Well, I dunno…some of this stuff is really weird. I'm not sure what to think anymore."

His friend's expression quickly changed from annoyance to concern. "This isn't like you, Sora. Let's just watch the game and relax a little, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

Riku grinned, patting Sora on the back and led him to his seat.

* * *

"_Hurry_, Demyx!"

The young man zipped up his cloak. "I'm coming, Larxene! How are we going to get there, though?!"

"We can't use a portal," the woman replied, pulling on one of her black leather gloves. "The note we got said that there will be too many people to just warp in unexplained. Besides, the Seekers are probably biding their time before they disrupt the game."

"I should have known the boy would be foolish enough to return there," said another voice in the room, its owner also in a black cloak while his face remained hidden in the cabinet he was digging through. "We could use a portal to get close and walk the rest of the way."

"Or run," Larxene said impatiently. "We'll have to thank our favorite traitor later for sending us the warning."

Demyx remained quiet. He had read the note, and he recognized the handwriting. Though he hadn't stated it, he knew that it wasn't written by who Larxene thought it was.

* * *

Axel scowled, charging down the street with his chakrams in hand and his hood pulled up. _I don't believe this!_ He thought. _The Seekers have gone too far!_

In his pocket was the crumpled remains of a note that had been written to him, but there was no signature. It was a warning, telling him that Sora was in danger. Axel had no qualms with that. No one was going to lay so much as a _fingernail_ on Sora so long as he was around.

* * *

Sora and Riku let out a loud cheer with the rest of their school crowd as Tidus sent the blitzball into the enemy goal, bringing the score out of a tie with DIHS in the lead. Sending a salute to the crowd, Tidus swam back into starting position for the ball to be thrown again.

Destiny Islands High didn't have their own blitzball stadium, so they had one of the portable (and thus smaller) ones wheeled into the center of the PE field and filled with water. It cost a lot of money to rent, so it didn't happen often, but whenever it did nearly everyone in school came to cheer. Sora, whom normally wasn't interested in blitzball, was no exception.

While the players were setting up for the next round again, Sora stared curiously at the water on top of the tank, remembering what Axel had mentioned about magic.

"_The main fuel for magic is nothing short of imagination. Got it memorized?"_

Squinting his eyes, Sora imagined some of the water rising slowly out of the tank, forming a straight line upward. He felt his heart pulse with what could only feel like water, and to his delight, he saw a tiny amount of it rising upward from the tank, just as he had imagined. He held it in place, feeling the sensation of the magic working coursing down his arms and smiling. _I wonder how Axel's friend did it…he said that he used music. I'd like to meet him someday…_

"Hey, Sora!"

The feminine voice jerked Sora from his thoughts and he spun to the side, noting that Kairi Denset had approached him. "Oh, um…hi, Kairi."

Kairi giggled. "I didn't know you liked blitzball."

Sora blinked, his cheeks flushing red. "Oh! Um, well…I sort of like it…"

"He's just here to see the stadium," Riku noted, smirking mischievously.

"R-Riku!"

But Kairi only smiled. "I was never very interested myself, but my cousin is playing so I thought I'd come and be supportive."

"Cool," Sora replied nervously. His hand started tingling familiarly, and he shoved it in his pocket. "I'm here to watch Tidus and Wakka."

"And to see the stadium," Riku added with a grin, munching on another bite of popcorn.

"I see," Kairi replied. "Well, I'd better get back to my seat with Selphie. I'll see you in school Monday, okay?"

Sora nodded. "O-okay! See you Monday!"

With another warm smile, Kairi walked off. Sora sighed in relief and slumped. "That was close…"

"What, you nearly confessed your undying love for her or something?" Riku joked.

"No," Sora replied. "The…the key almost showed up. It did that earlier today in the hallway…"

"So you don't like Kairi?"

"I-I do! I mean…um…ah, RIKU!"

The silver-haired boy in question had dragged Sora to the side and pulled him into a friendly noogie. "Admit it!" he taunted. "You know you like her!"

"Knock it off!"

It was only after Riku had finished ruffling Sora's hair that he was allowed to breathe normally again. He had just begun watching the game again – more out of support than interest – when his head began to throb. He grunted, clutching his skull and hunching over. Riku quickly noticed this and placed his hands on his friend's shoulders to steady him. "You okay, Sora?"

"No," Sora replied as the throbbing got worse. "Something's…something's wrong…"

On cue, a scream erupted from somewhere in the stands, and the game came to a complete stop as a black cloaked figure appeared, lances in hands and hovering in the air. Sora managed to drag his head upward. "Not you again," He grumbled.

"You got away from me last time, Sora," the man replied, "But not this time."

A strong gust of wind burst from behind the man. The players evacuated the blitzball field and everyone in the stands scattered but Sora, whom was still being steadied by Riku. "What's going on?!" Riku cried.

Sora shook his head. "No time to explain! We've gatta run!"

But there was no time. A familiar glowing crossbow bolt tore through the air and stabbed into Sora's jacket, pinning him to the wooden seats. There was no time to be stunned by the accuracy of the shot; Sora began trying to pull away but his shirt wouldn't even rip. A hauntingly familiar voice rose as another cloaked figure appeared, hanging upside-down in the air. "Gotcha now!"

"Leave us alone!" Riku shouted, reaching out to grab the crossbow bolt and pull it out of Sora's jacket, but upon touching it he screamed and jerked his hand back, a clean cut along his palm. "Ngh…I can't even touch it!"

Three lances swirled in the air, aiming at Sora before nose-diving at him. He lifted an arm to shield himself, wincing and bracing for impact as the glint of the metal shone in his eyes…

A flurry of vines exploded from the ground, creating a net-weave pattern and halting the lances in their tracks. Sora's eyes widened, and Riku gave him a questioning look. Knowing what his friend was going to ask, Sora shook his head. "I still can't get out of this thing," he grumbled, pulling on it. "For once I wish the clothes I was wearing were cheap…"

"Deserters!" The lance-wielder cried. "Vexen! The vines!"

"With pleasure."

Another cloaked figure, this one wielding a large blue shield, appeared and held one palm forward, channeling ice onto the vines that protected Sora and shattering them. With Sora wide open, another wave of frost was sent at him, only for the spell to be interrupted by a large pink scythe hurling out from behind the stands and slamming into whom was apparently Vexen. It returned and was caught by _another _man in a black cloak whom appeared next to Sora, catching the weapon in his hand and brandishing it. His hood was down, revealing a sharp-featured face with long, messy pink hair and narrow blue eyes. "Are you all right, Sora?" he asked.

Sora blinked. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"Good." With that said, the main swung his scythe and sliced the trapped fraction of Sora's jacket away, leaving him free to move. "Run."

Without an argument, Sora did just that. Riku followed closely. "What's going on?!" he yelled.

"Just run!" Sora replied, but they skidded to a stop when Vexen appeared in front of them, readying a strike of frost to undoubtedly freeze them alive…

"Dance, water, dance!"

The water from the blitzball stadium rushed out, creating a flat, thick shield in front of Sora and becoming frozen in his place. Some, which had been splashed across the ground, also froze, allowing a now-cloaked Demyx to slide toward him, sitar in hand. "Sora! Good to see you in one piece!"

Sora felt his heart swell in relief. "Demyx!"

Behind them, the lance-wielder approached, but was stopped short as a rain of lightning tore him down. Larxene leapt onto the scene right next to Demyx, but didn't spare Sora a scathing look. "You should have stayed away from here," she scorned.

"You mad?" Sora asked.

Larxene laughed sadistically. "Not right now. I've been waiting a long time to kick their butts." And she leapt away again, keeping the lancer occupied.

By now, Vexen was forcing his way through the ice shield while Sora and Riku ran, but another figure stopped them. Riku scowled. "Ugh, do these guys ever end?"

The figure did not reply, but instead gripped the large tomahawk in its hand and lifted it, then smashed it into the ground and causing a large tremor. Riku and Sora both fell as the ground below them split apart. The tremor continued until a pair of twin chakrams flew out from behind them and struck the man, causing him to stagger backward for a brief moment. Axel leapt in front of them, catching his weapons on the return and holding them out at his side, snarling. "I thought I told you before. Hands off the kid. Got it _memorized_?"

"Axel," the man grumbled, raising his axe again.

The redhead spun around. "Sora! Everyone! Running time!" With that, he pulled Sora up and motioned Riku to follow as a swirling vortex of darkness appeared behind him. "In here! _Now!_"

"But the others-"

"They'll follow! Just hurry!"

Sora turned to Riku, whom nodded, and they both dove into the portal, the sounds and chaos of the battle behind them fading as the darkness flooded their senses.

* * *

In the air above the battle, watching as the chaos ended while the Deserters fled, was a darkened, somewhat ghostly figure. He eyed the scene below him curiously. A clever ambush, he noted, but without honor. As much as he wanted to have stopped the battle himself, he knew he was not capable. Not in this state.

A dark portal appeared below, and the stranger watched as Sora and his friend darted into it. He then gazed at Axel, whom followed them, and then the three others battling whom created and fled through their own portals.

"And our struggle continues," he muttered as he vanished. He knew where the Deserters had fled to, and that was exactly where he planned on going.

* * *

"You _idiot_! I can't believe you went back to your school after I _specifically _told you to stay away from it! Do you have a death wish or something?!"

Sora winced as Larxene went on her vocal rampage. They had gone through the portal Axel created and returned to the island of light, specifically the cave in the back, and while they were safe and sound, Larxene wasn't very happy with Sora's decision to go back and watch the game.

The pink-haired man sighed. "Larxene, calm yourself. That temper of yours won't get us anyw-"

"Zip it, flower-boy," The woman snapped.

"It's Marluxia," the man corrected calmly.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "So it is. Good for you."

"Would someone _please_ tell me what's going on?" Riku asked for roughly the fifth time.

Luckily, Axel heard him. "We're a group of people called the Deserters," he replied. "We've been fighting the Seekers for a while now, and that keyblade that your friend Sora has is probably the most powerful and pivotal weapon in this war that we're in."

Riku was dumbfounded. "Seekers? War? But that war ended centuries ago!"

"I thought so too," Sora added. "I mean, I knew they were back judging by what Axel told me…but I thought the war already ended."

"Nope," Demyx replied. "It began centuries ago, and then got put on hold, I guess you could say. Now that the keyblade is active again, the war's up and running again, too."

"And you're right in the middle of it, spiky," Larxene said, shoving her face two inches from Sora's. "How lucky for you."

"Larxene," Marluxia grumbled in a warning tone.

"What do you know, Marluxia? You were a Seeker once, too!"

"Well, so were you!"

"Guys, there's no need to argue-"

"_Can it_, Demyx!"

"Larxene, calm down! We're not going to solve anything by yelling!"

"Well, it's not like _you_ ever-"

Sora clenched his hands into his fists as the four cloaked people shouted back and forth. Finally, having enough, he instinctively summoned the keyblade and shot to his feet. "All of you, _shut up_!"

It worked. Everyone, including Larxene, froze and stared at him with wide eyes. For a few moments, the only sound to be heard was the wind whistling over the top of the cave. With a sigh, Sora finally spoke again. "Look, there's something you guys probably don't realize. You all are experienced in this. From what I gather, you've been through the whole Seeker mess and you've been fighting and you know what a threat they are. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I kinda _don't_. I explored an old temple, ended up with the keyblade and a bunch of magic going out of control. And now, Riku's been pulled into this too, which is exactly what I've been trying to avoid." He gestured to his silver-haired friend. "It's only thanks to Axel that I wasn't killed earlier, and now I have you guys to thank, too. But if you're going to argue and bicker with yourselves, how do you call each other allies? If we're going to win this war or whatever it is, then we need to stick together, and I'm going to need some help from all of you, including you, Larxene."

An uneasy silence fell over the group as they stared at the ground. Axel, however, was smiling slightly. After what seemed like a few minutes, the redhead chuckled. "Where'd you learn to speak like that?"

Sora shook his head. "I had to say _something_."

Larxene sighed. "You're right, I guess. But let me lay down some rules for you. Number one, you can't go back to school now that the Seekers know what you look like for good." She glanced at Riku. "That includes you, whitey locks. You're now considered an acquaintance of Sora's, so they'll be after you, too."

Riku clenched a fist at the comment on his hair, but said nothing and only nodded.

"Rule two," the woman continued, pointing at the keyblade, "Don't go anywhere in public with that key in your hand, and don't use magic either. Revealing yourself is about as smart as telling a cop you're going to rob a bank."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Sora replied.

"You might not want to go out in public at all," Marluxia pointed out. "The Seekers are obviously all set on finding you and killing you. Not even your home may be safe for you now."

"The way you all put it," Demyx muttered, his voice amplified by the stone walls of the cave, "It's like they have to stay in a _corner_ for the rest of their lives."

Axel shook his head. "Nah. Only until this is over. Once the Seekers are out of the picture, everything will be safe again. It's only thanks to that note you guys gave me that we were able to get these two to safety."

"_Us_?" Demyx echoed. "We got a note too, Axel. We thought _you_ sent it."

"But Axel didn't send it if he got one too," Marluxia stated.

Larxene crossed her arms in a rare moment of thought. "Now that you mention it, the note didn't have a signature."

"But if _you_ didn't send me the note," Axel began, "And I didn't send it to you, then who _did_?"

"_I_ sent it."

All heads spun to the entrance tunnel, where a transparent figure had appeared without a sound. Unlike everyone else in the room (aside from Sora and Riku), he did not wear a black coat, but rather a pair of khaki pants, large grey shoes, a black shirt and a white short-sleeved vest. Around his neck was a four-pointed star pendant and he had a checkered wristband around his left wrist. His blonde hair was done up in an odd, spiral pattern of spikes, and his eyes – he noticed with a start – looked exactly like Sora's own.

Axel's jaw dropped. "R…Roxas? You're _alive_?!"


	9. The War Resumes

Quickie chappie. I hope it's not too terrible. I had major writer's block here, so if it's bad...sorry D:

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Nine: The War Resumes**

* * *

Sora was having a harder time finding the words to say now than he had finding the right way to ask Kairi Denset out on a date. There, standing in front of him in a ghostly image, was none other than the boy whom wielded power beyond what most his age could, the one whom began the Chasers and protected many countless people from the Seekers, the one whom many related to him.

Roxas.

Axel had fallen to his knees in absolute shock, his eyes wide. "Roxas…I haven't seen you since…how are you still alive?"

"I'm not alive, Axel," Roxas replied sadly, his smile still remaining somehow. "But…well, I'm not dead, either. I'm sort of caught in between. After the battle we had here on the island, I knew we weren't finished yet, so I had to seal myself off so I could stick around to see the end of it."

"Seal yourself off?" Demyx echoed. "What are you talking about?"

Roxas shrugged. "It's hard to explain. All I can say is that the moment someone could get past my barrier was the moment the war would resume, so I had to be careful who I let in. Several people tried to get in over the past century or so…usually treasure hunters or just really greedy archaeologists. I had a few vandals, too. I made sure they didn't get what they wanted." He looked away. "Sora only came in only wanting to see what was there. He didn't want to take anything back with him and he wasn't all that interested in tearing the place apart. I couldn't keep him out even if I wanted to."

Sora's eyes widened in a realization. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but Roxas's voice was uncannily familiar. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. Riku glanced from Sora to Roxas before finding his own words. "I've heard that curiosity killed the cat," he commented, "But it's never saved the world before."

Larxene scoffed. "I'm still not convinced that this _kid_ has what it takes to get rid of the Seekers," she sneered. "Look at him. He's scrawny and hardly has the brains that you did, Rock Sack."

"Are you ever going to get his name right?" Marluxia sighed.

"Someday."

Roxas didn't seem phased. "Sora, can you come here for a moment?"

Sora blinked, standing and gripping the keyblade tightly in his hand. "Um…sure."

Everyone watched as he slowly approached the image of Roxas. When he was close enough, Roxas looked over him closely, eyes narrowed in thought. Once again, Sora began to speak, but found himself silenced beyond his own will. The blonde looked up again. "Closer."

_He sure doesn't waste any words,_ Sora observed as he stepped forward again. Roxas's gaze softened as he placed two fingers right where Sora's heart was, softly humming. As though responding to the low, monotone note, Sora felt something in his heart vibrate and pulse violently. Some unseen force kept him upright and still, suppressing his cry of pain and shock.

The world rippled around him, shifting into an overhead view of the islands. Sora stumbled, afraid he would fall, but his eyes widened in the realization that he was hovering in midair. He could still walk, turn around, and jump, but there was an odd sensation of simply not touching any solid ground. Roxas floated in front of him, arms crossed. Sora stared at him, noting that the blonde wasn't transparent this time. "What's…?"

"We're tuned into your heart," Roxas replied. "Don't worry. You're fine."

"My heart?" Sora stated around skeptically. "But this looks just like the islands."

Roxas nodded. "I know." He turned around, pointing downward. "Do you know what that island is?"

Sora squinted. He could make out several houses, a few roads, and in a small circle of green was… "That's the island I live on. That's my house, there's Riku's, and the temple is back there!"

"Yep," Roxas said. "I used to live there. I didn't have a family, so I joined the Seekers in hopes of finding one. Their leader, Xemnas, took me in and promised me the necessities: food, shelter, and all that stuff. The only catch was that I had to study light."

"And you went along with him?"

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," The blonde explained. "_Everyone_ had their reasons for staying. Demyx just wanted to play his music, but his skill in magic was so good he made a pretty valuable recruit. The longer I studied, though, the more I realized that something really fishy was going on. I was in denial at first because I didn't want to be lost again, but I found out pretty quick that there was more that could be lost than just my home."

Sora blinked. "Like what?"

Roxas paused, turning back to Sora. "While I was studying the light, it gave me a test that I had in a dream. I had to go through some pretty rough stuff to get it, and even then I didn't even know if there _was_ a reward. But somehow I won, and my reward was the keyblade. That's when I found out that what we were doing was wrong, and I got out of there as soon as I could."

"But how was it wrong?" Sora asked. "They just wanted to know more, right?"

"For one, Xemnas was a jerk," Roxas grumbled. "He didn't really care about giving us what we wanted. He bribed us in and set us to work, and it all went from there. See, Sora, the difference between light and darkness is simple, but really severe. Light tests someone _before_ they wield it. Darkness tests someone _while_ they wield it. You know what that means, right?"

Sora crossed his arms in thought. "If you can't handle the darkness, it'll consume you?"

Roxas's eyes narrowed. "Bingo. See, the question isn't whether or not you can wield power…it's whether or not you can _control_ it. To wield light, you have to be considered worthy for it to even consider you an intelligent being. Even then, if you can't handle the power, you can still get yourself killed. On the other hand, anyone can wield darkness, but if you can't do it right, _it_ will control _you_. To add to that, light and darkness may be two sides of the same coin, but they still conflict…"

A trickle of fear made its way into Sora's mind. "I see where you're going with this. The Seekers that are in charge now are being used by the Darkness, right?"

"Yeah. Only one person has ever been able to wield darkness without it corrupting their heart, and he doesn't live in this world."

"So…what are the Seekers after now?"

Roxas chuckled humorlessly. "They probably want absolute power, and they won't hesitate to test it out. The problem is that it's capable of destroying the entire world. We can't let them do that. That's why I made the Chasers, but we didn't have much luck taking them down."

"But the Deserters are here!" Sora protested. "They can stop them! They're former Seekers, after all!"

But the blonde shook his head. "No, Sora. Only _you_ can stop them. Darkness is drawn to light, and it'll stop at nothing to get rid of specifically you."

Sora felt his spirits fall. "But how? I can hardly fight. The only reason I _can_ fight is because the light helps me."

"No," Roxas replied, pointing at the keyblade that was still clutched in Sora's hand. "The keyblade is a manifestation of light, or in other words the power in your heart given a tangible form."

"The power in my heart…?"

"Everyone has power sleeping inside them," Roxas explained, holding a fist over his chest as though explaining. "Some are more powerful than others and each one is different. Mine was powerful enough for the keyblade to come to me. It's not a matter of being powerful enough, Sora. You just have to give that power a wakeup call. The catch is that if you cut that power off…"

The keyblade vanished from Sora's hand, suddenly leaving a hollow hole in his heart. He gripped his chest and gasped for air, only regaining composure in time to see the keyblade appear in Roxas's hand.

"…then someone else can take that power from you."

Sora's eyes widened. "How…but I…"

Roxas smirked. "I've had more experience than you, Sora. I can take it without you having to close off. If you want it back, then take it back with your heart."

"With my heart?" Sora asked. After a second or two, he shook his head. "Why are you doing this?"

"My own test," Roxas replied vaguely. "If you can't beat me, then you don't stand a chance against the Seekers."

Sora grunted angrily. Calling on the keyblade normally wouldn't work; Roxas had it. But how was he supposed to take it back? Was he going to keep that power from him even as the Seekers destroyed the islands? The thought made him shudder. He'd lose his family, his friends, his home…

_Kairi…_

Wait. Why was he thinking about her?

_Well, I do like her. But if the islands get destroyed, or if she gets hurt, then I'll never be able to see her again…_

"Do you even _want_ the keyblade back?" Roxas asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You're barely trying."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Why should I have to rely on it to save my home?" he asked. "Sure, the keyblade is powerful, but what good is it if I don't have a home to protect?"

"All the more reason to get it back," Roxas replied, waving it tauntingly.

Sora clenched his fists. "I don't care if it's a legend or if it's powerful," he said through his teeth. "I'm not letting those Seekers hurt my home, my family, my friends, _or_ Kairi."

Roxas quirked an eyebrow. "Kairi?" He echoed.

"The girl at school that I like," Sora replied. "She's the only one I really ever _did_ like. If my home is destroyed, I'll never be able to see her or talk to her again…that's why…" He placed a hand over his heart, his eyes closed, and then he stretched that same hand outward. "That's why I'm going to fight with all I've got, and I'm not letting _anyone_ in my way until the Seekers are _gone_!"

A powerful sensation exploded from Sora's heart, blossoming out rapidly. The keyblade in Roxas's hand grew incredibly bright, shining blindingly before it vanished from sight to reappear in front of Sora. Roxas smirked. "Good job. Looks like you've got what it takes."

Sora blinked. "I passed?"

"With flying colors," Roxas replied, 'walking' over, "But you still don't have enough control. I'd teach you, but there's no time or way to do it. You'll have to find out for yourself the way I did."

"_Sora! Sora, answer me!"_

The brunette spun around. "Wha…"

Roxas chuckled at his reaction. "Time to head back," he commented. "Brace yourself. It'll probably be a bit bright for your eyes for a moment."

He wasn't kidding. Sora shielded himself from the burst of radiance that appeared when Roxas snapped his fingers. When it faded, he found himself on his hands and knees in the cave, gasping for breath with the image of Roxas standing in front of him, transparent as he was before. Riku was at Sora's side immediately. "Sora! What happened?"

"He's fine," Roxas explained. "I just had to check something. I think it might've been a bit of a shock for him."

"Well, could you try not to almost kill him next time?" Larxene grumbled casually. "We need him to win the war."

"He's not an object, Larxene," Demyx protested.

"I don't suppose he is."

Axel rolled his eyes. "If you to argue, I'll show you a new meaning of the phrase 'up in smoke.'"

"Enough," Marluxia announced. "Roxas, will you be helping us?"

Roxas shook his head. "No. Not directly, anyway. I was mainly here to test Sora…and to give you all a warning."

Sora stiffened. "A warning…?" he echoed.

"Remember the storm that you managed to stop, Axel?" Roxas said. When the redhead nodded, he continued. "Well, Xemnas has about three times that power now, and he won't hesitate to use it, even if-"

The former keyblade wielder's warning was interrupted when a swarm of darkness appeared. Axel immediately stood on guard, hands ready to summon his chakrams at any given second. Demyx stumbled back, Marluxia drew his scythe, and Larxene's hands crackled with lightning. Sora and Riku backed away cautiously, looking closer as a figure emerged from the portal.

First, there was a black boot, followed by a bit of black trench coat. Then the arms reached forward to grip something – anything – that could hold him up. But there was nothing, so the hooded stranger tumbled through and the darkness closed behind him. He fell to the ground, gasping for breath. His hood fell back, revealing an all-too-familiar face that was covered in sweat. Sora felt his eyes widen when he recognized the man.

"Speak of the devil," Axel snarled, spitting out his words like poison. "You've got a lot of nerve to show your face to us like this, _Zexion_."


	10. Ienzo's Repentance

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Ten: Ienzo's Repentance**

* * *

Kairi stared quietly out her window. The blitzball game was currently being covered by the news, reports of the attack flooding in and countless witnesses going on about how several hooded men had attacked using supernatural powers. In the chaos, she had managed to notice that they were all targeting Sora. The boy managed to escape somehow, but why would they go after him…?

"Are you okay, hon?"

"Yes, Dad," Kairi replied automatically. "I'm fine." _But I'm so confused._

Kairi's father, a rather paunchy man, must have bought it, because she heard his footsteps leaving. "You should get some rest, dear."

"Okay, Dad." Once again, an automatic reply. Once she was sure she was alone, Kairi sighed and turned away from her open window, content with letting the breeze come in, and flipped off the radio. Wherever Sora was, she was certain he was alright. Her father had a point: after all the chaos of the day, she needed some rest.

There was an odd wind blowing in from her window. Kairi turned just in time to see a cloaked man standing in her room. Her oncoming gasp was silenced when a gloved hand gagged her and rendered her silent.

* * *

"Zexion," Larxene sneered. "What do _you_ want?"

Sora clenched his fist and resisted the urge to tell the woman to shut her trap. Couldn't she see that the man was injured? Any Seeker coming to his enemies was either insane, or not a Seeker. It was startling enough to know about the true identity of his favorite teacher, too.

Zexion, whom wasn't quite as tall as Sora had anticipated, slowly moved his gaze upward. "Ax…el?"

"That would be me," the redhead in question replied, chakrams ready. "What do you want? Not every day a Seeker goes to his enemies on his dying breath."

"Where…is…So…ra?" The man continued, obviously having a hard time speaking. There was an odd rasp in his voice, as though he was barely able to breathe.

Sora raced to Zexion's side and knelt down. "Don't move! You're hurt!"

Axel narrowed his eyes. "Sora, what're you doing?!"

The boy ignored him, carefully turning the man over. He quickly noticed a gash across his left ribcage. Sora gritted his teeth, placing one hand on the gash in hopes of easing the bleeding. "What happened to you?"

"Xaldin," Zexion wheezed, not bothering to explain who Xaldin was. "I refused…an order that…he had sent to me from…the superior. He…attacked me…and this was the first…place I managed to flee to."

Sora could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Zexion," Marluxia began, his eyes narrow. "Refusing an order from the superior is a death wish. What do you hope to acc-"

"Wait," Sora interrupted, motioning the scythe-wielding Deserter to be silent. "I think…" He hesitated. "Let me try something…" He focused on the hand he had placed over Zexion's wound, conjuring the familiar feeling he had felt when speaking to Axel that one day. The comforting feeling made its way down his arm and through his fingers, knitting Zexion's skin back together while Sora's hand glowed a soft green. The moment the sensation passed, he helped his former teacher sit up. "You feeling any better?"

Zexion shook his head. "Why…I was your enemy."

"Sora does a lot of crazy stuff that makes no sense," Riku commented. "You were his teacher; you should have known that."

The teacher stared, then chuckled, a hint of a smile on his face. "Heh, I guess I should have."

Larxene scoffed. "Well, now that you're fit enough to talk," she grumbled, "Would you mind telling us why exactly you left your precious Seekers?"

"They wanted me to kill Sora."

Sora inhaled sharply and his eyes bulged from his head. Riku was immediately on guard with the rest of the deserters. Meanwhile, Roxas, whom had remained silent the entire time, strode forward, fists clenched. "You know that now you have fled, you can't go back. They'll kill you on sight."

Zexion's gaze shot upward as he recognized the voice. "It can't be…Roxas?"

The blonde ignored Zexion's comment. "There is only one more course of action," he continued. "The time for hiding is over. The Seekers will stop at nothing to destroy this place if it means getting rid of Sora. We will have to strike back."

"Are you insane?!" Larxene cried.

Axel sighed. "Roxas, you've been sealed up for too _way_ long. You sure you're thinking straight? You saw the storm that day. If he's three times as powerful…"

"Then we're going to have a rough time," Marluxia concluded. "Zexion, what can you-"

"Ienzo," Zexion replied. "Please, don't call me Zexion. I have forsaken the Seekers and all desire to associate with them."

Larxene quirked an eyebrow. "Odd form of repentance if you ask me, but it'll do."

Riku, whom had been silent most of the time, stood and stepped forward. "Mister Ienzo," he began. "Are you going to go back to teaching after this?"

It was an odd question to ask, and the cave quickly fell silent. Ienzo chuckled, shaking his head. "I doubt it. We'll have to see how this war ends."

"You should," Riku insisted. "You could tell the truth about the Seekers instead of hiding it like you were forced to."

The former teacher grinned, and chuckled. "You always were a bright student, Riku. I think teaching again may be out of my reach, but…perhaps I can." He stood uneasily. "Until then, we'll have to defeat the Seekers. As long as they are around, no one will be at peace."

"So you're joining us?" Marluxia questioned.

Ienzo nodded. "Precisely."

"So, we've got an illusionist on our side now," Axel observed, grinning mischievously. "This'll be handy."

"And our numbers have quite nearly _doubled_ in a single night," Marluxia added. "Before it was only the four of us. Now we have a keyblade master, his friend, and Ienzo."

"The Seekers no longer outnumber us," Roxas pointed out, crossing his arms. "We are in equal numbers now. Our only problem lies within two of our newest allies being inexperienced. I would help if I could, but I can't fight like this."

"Seven against seven," Larxene mumbled. "This'll be fun."

"Who're you calling inexperienced?" Riku protested. "I'll have you know that I train at a dojo every day!"

"A dojo you can no longer go to," Ienzo said sadly. "Would you mind telling me who your teacher there is, Riku?"

The silver-haired boy paused, recalling the man's name. "Sensei Dilan. He's our homeroom teacher too."

Axel chuckled humorlessly. "Better get used to calling him Sensei Xaldin, then. He's a Seeker, too."

Riku's jaw dropped. Sora, meanwhile, was shocked. "This is nuts! First my history teacher, now Riku's sensei…anyone else you want to name?"

Demyx didn't hesitate to list them all from memory. "The others are Xigbar, Vexen, Saïx, Luxord, Lexaeus…and their leader, Xemnas. Three of them had a mind to attack you during the blitzball game."

"I'm still not forgiving you for that, by the way," Larxene added.

Sora ignored her. "But one of the Seekers turned traitor, right? Which one was he?" His eyes traveled to Roxas.

The blonde shook his head. "I might've done some serious treason against that group, but I'm not the one that nearly killed them all in the last battle."

As the thought sunk in, Sora found himself confused. "Then…one of them must be the traitor, right? We could use his help?"

"You already have it," Axel said flatly, crossing his arms and leaning against the stone wall. The moment the words reached Sora's ears, he remembered what Larxene had told him earlier that day.

"_There was a huge storm that Xemnas summoned on the night of the final battle. No one could stop it, not even Roxas, so Axel took a last resort and tore the place apart, hoping to jerk Xemnas out of his trance and stop the storm."_

Then it hit Sora. Why didn't he think of it before? Axel had been there the night of the attack. Was he a Chaser as well? Or…was he a Seeker? But that couldn't be right; Axel had defended Sora from the Seekers and tutored him. He knew he could trust this man.

It couldn't be…was _Axel_ the traitor that was always mentioned?

"I'm surprised you didn't tell by now," Axel continued. "Who did you think the traitor was?"

"I thought it was Roxas," Sora replied honestly, still aghast. "He started the Chasers, after all. That's about as treasonous as you can get. But I still don't get it…"

"He joined the Seekers hoping to find answers," Roxas explained.

Axel scoffed. "Answers that I didn't get."

"Answers to what?" Riku asked.

"Remember when I said that some people are better at certain elements of magic than others?" Axel said, directing the question at Sora. Sora nodded, and Axel continued. "When I was younger, my house caught on fire. I was stuck inside, but when the place finally collapsed I made it out without a single burn. Everyone wondered why. I wanted to figure it out, so I joined the Seekers, but all they had me do was a bunch of their dirty work. I found out eventually that I had a thing for controlling fire, and I've used it since, but I still didn't learn what I wanted to know. Everything changed when my house went up in flames, but no one's ever told me why."

"So you turned on them because you couldn't figure it out?" Riku asked.

Axel nodded. "Yep. My guess is that my power got a wakeup call in the middle of that mess, but beyond that I'm clueless. Whatever happened, though, I used as much of it as I could to stop Xemnas from pulling off that storm."

"A lot of people didn't get the answers they wanted," Ienzo said. "The Seekers only wanted members and power. They never wanted to help others."

"I still don't get how I play into all of this," Riku grumbled, taking his seat again. "The only reason I'm here is because they know I helped Sora, right?"

"Which makes you about as innocent as an armed burglar," Larxene confirmed.

"No need to be blunt, Larxene," Marluxia said sternly. "Riku, if what your friend said is true, then your fighting abilities may be of some help to us."

Riku blinked. "You can't be serious."

Sora grinned. "Aw, c'mon, Riku. I'm barely able to beat you even _with_ the keyblade. You've got to be good for that."

"Or you could just be a wimp," Riku joked.

"Hey!"

"That still doesn't solve how we're going to win this," Marluxia stated. "Xemnas could easily summon the storm at any time to get rid of us. We don't stand a chance against the darkness."

"Why not fight fire with fire?"

All heads turned to Demyx. He sat quietly, sitar in his hands. He had been absently plucking a few notes while the rest of them were talking, but only chose now to speak up. "Xemnas is controlling darkness, right? If we fight darkness with darkness, he won't be expecting it, and we'll catch him off guard."

The protest was loud and instant. "Are you insane?!" Axel cried. "When Xemnas tried to use it he nearly destroyed the planet!"

"That's because it consumed him," Marluxia pointed out. "I don't think anyone will be able to handle that power without it corrupting their minds."

Sora hesitated, remembering what Roxas had told him earlier. Unlike the light, the darkness would test someone _while_ they wielded power rather than before. He had also said… "Wait a minute. You said that someone in another world was the only one who could use darkness without being controlled by it, right Roxas?"

Roxas nodded. "Well, another _world_ wouldn't be an accurate way of saying it, but yeah, someone is out there."

"Can you take us to him?" Sora asked. "Or bring him to us? Something? We might need his help."

Roxas paused in thought, then nodded. "Sure."

"Can you even do that?" Ienzo asked.

"Yeah," Roxas replied. "I'm not supposed to, but if circumstances are this bad, then I don't see why not." He held up a hand, creating a swirling portal of white light. "Sora, Riku, come with me. The rest of you will need to stay here."

Axel nodded. "Got it. We'll keep an eye on book boy here."

Ienzo smiled weakly. "Be careful."

Sora nodded, following Roxas into the light. Riku hesitated, but stepped in after him. Their vision went white.

* * *

"_Zexion has joined the Deserters, sir."_

"_I anticipated as much. Do you know where they currently are located?"_

"_They are beyond our reaches for now. We believe that Roxas is with them."_

"_Roxas…? I thought he sealed himself off."_

"_He has returned, sir, but not entirely…we're not sure if he is alive or dead…or neither."_

"_What is he doing now?"_

"_We've lost track of him. He, the key bearer and his companion have vanished for the time being. The other Deserters are in hiding."_

"_Very well. Proceed with preparations. We will begin the moment we are ready."_

"…_yes, sir."_


	11. Seeking Aid

GUESS WHAT. THIS CHAPTER IS IN RIKU'S POINT OF VIEW. SORT OF. ENJOY.

Zemyx if you squint and twist your head funny.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Eleven: Seeking Aid**

* * *

Riku wasn't entirely sure why he was going along with this. One moment he had been at the ball game with Sora, then a bunch of men dressed in black cloaks had appeared and attacked, and it was only thanks to a band of traitors that they managed to make it out alive. There was some mumbo jumbo about the world being destroyed by the powers of darkness that he didn't quite get, but Riku was definitely sure of one thing: there was an enormous war taking place, and Sora had been unwillingly dumped right into the middle of it. Riku wasn't too keen on getting caught up in it either, but he wasn't about to let Sora get himself killed or worse.

Besides, Roxas had requested him specifically to come along. That had to mean _something_.

The corridor they were walking down was nothing but light. There was nothing really to step on, and no solid ground, but Riku was still taking steps and he felt himself moving forward. Sora had a most curious expression on his face, but Roxas remained stern and indiscernible.

"How much further?" Sora asked.

Roxas shook his head. "Almost there. These corridors aren't always short. We're lucky the person we're going to meet is so close by."

The brunette kept his mouth shut, and Riku was left to simply look around himself. While the void was white, there were streams of light blue weaving their way around, so he at least knew he wasn't in an endless void.

After what seemed like hours, they finally stopped."Here we go," Roxas announced, a victorious hint in his voice. "Finally at the end."

"Finally," Sora breathed. "As fun as it is to walk like this, it gets kinda old…" He glanced at his feet. "…and it feels like I'm having a _really_ weird dream."

"Or we're on an acid trip of some kind," Riku added.

Roxas turned away. "You'll be a bit disoriented for a moment, but once the light clears up you'll be fine. I don't normally travel like this, so I can't tell you everything about what to expect until we know where we are."

"That's informative," Riku grumbled.

"Time," Roxas said simply. "Just step forward. We're here."

Riku did. At first, the light didn't fade, but he felt the ground underneath him solidify. Years of practice honed his sense of balance and he landed lightly on his feet. Roxas's landing was inaudible, but Sora stumbled and made enough noise to make up for it.

The white pathway they had traveled down unraveled itself gradually in a rather ribbon-like fashion, beginning with the white and ending with the remaining azure strips that had flowed through the seemingly endless corridor. The area they ended up in was far too familiar: a small cavern decorated with countless chalk drawings on the stones and a mysterious wooden door with no handle.

Riku quirked an eyebrow skeptically. "Roxas, is it? This is the cave on the Island of Light. We're in the same place we started from."

"No, look," Sora pointed out. "The sun is up. We left at night, and it's daylight here, so this is-" The boy did a double-take when he saw his arm. "-_really_ weird!"

Riku looked at his own appendages. Sure enough, they were transparent just as Roxas had been before. The blonde nodded at them. "We can't be seen here yet. This usually happens after you come out of a corridor; it'll wear off after a few minutes. When it does, we shouldn't be seen."

"Why not?" Sora asked.

Roxas only chuckled. "You'll figure _that _one out pretty quick, trust me."

* * *

Nearly everyone had gone to sleep. Demyx was the only one left awake, and he had taken to plucking a few strings on his sitar in a quiet song. _Sure hope Sora and the others are okay,_ he thought as he hummed along, barely aware that he had summoned a few droplets of water in the air. Eventually his eyes closed as he reached the climax of his song, and when he neared the end he twisted a few of the notes into a loop for the intent to keep it playing, but paused, frowning. The water fell from the air, and he sighed. _I'm worrying to much…I can't even focus on music._

"Don't stop playing."

The voice caught Demyx off guard. He glanced up, seeing Zexion sitting next to him. The sitarist blinked. "You're awake?"

Zexion nodded. "Yes. I was sleeping for a while, then I heard your song."

Demyx bit his lip anxiously. "Sorry, Zexi…I mean, Ienzo. I'm sorry for waking you up, Ienzo."

"Don't be," Ienzo replied, giving a half-smile and staring at the starry sky through the hole in the cavern roof. "You're very good at it. The song lifted my worries. Where did you learn it?"

"Actually," Demyx began, grinning sheepishly and rubbing his head, "I wrote it myself."

Ienzo quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

Demyx nodded meekly. "Yeah. One day, when I was on my dad's boat, I just started plucking strings one day and I sort of came up with a tune. It was the same day I found out I could control water." Demyx chuckled at the memory. "It sort of scared me at first. I was looking over the edge and I fell overboard. I didn't know how to swim yet, and I should have drowned, but I didn't. I think that's when my power woke up, like when Axel's did."

"You nearly drowned?" Ienzo echoed.

Demyx nodded. "Yep. I found out that somehow I could still breathe underwater, so my parents were really confused when I begged them to teach me to swim. They thought I'd be traumatized, but when I wasn't they didn't know what to do. They died in a storm a few years later, so I lived in an orphanage." He shrugged at Ienzo's sympathetic expression. "It wasn't that bad. The caretakers were actually pretty nice, and they got me a new sitar when my old one broke. At one of the concerts in town, I was invited to play solo…that's when Xemnas recruited me."

Ienzo smiled. "I remember that. He was so cold about it…you came in looking so nervous. I don't think you knew, but sometimes I'd hear you playing, and I'd sit outside your door to listen."

"You did?"

"Every time. Sometimes, Roxas would, too."

"Roxas…" Demyx chuckled, plucking a few more strings. "Did anyone else listen?"

The illusionist shook his head. "Not that I know of, but I'm pretty sure several of us liked it."

No one really commented much on my music," Demyx commented, chuckling and feeling his face flush red. "This is a first for me."

"There's a first time for everything…Edym."

Demyx froze. "Ze…Ienzo…how…?"

Ienzo just grinned. "Play a song for me?"

Nodding hesitantly, Demyx closed his eyes and plucked the strings of his sitar once more, humming along.

* * *

"_Are we ready to strike?"_

"_Nearly, sir. The preparations are taking longer than expected. Something is interfering…"_

"_The olden Chasers…do you think the Superior will suspect them?"_

"_Not a chance. After all, they're legends. Ages old, even in this time. Some refer to them as deities. The interference must be coming from elsewhere."_

"_The girl?"_

"_It is possible. Take her somewhere else to be held, but keep her in one piece. She is a vital and delicate piece of this operation."_

"_Ah, yes…I will be sure to remember that. What will we do about Zexion?"_

"_He has likened himself to the Deserters. He will undoubtedly be fighting against us or acting as a double agent. You know him well. Tell everyone to be on their guard, and any suspicious behavior must be reported to the superior immediately."_

"_Understood."_

"_One small mishap is barely the delay that Axel gave us. All is going according to plan…"_

* * *

They were nearly blinded by the sunlight as they exited the cave. Riku found it rather unnerving that he didn't have a shadow on the ground, but followed Roxas and Sora closely as they made their way down the all-too familiar beach. The blonde lifted his eyebrows. "Looks like they're not here yet. We're probably a bit early."

"Who's this person we're looking for anyway?" Riku asked. "Can you tell us anything about him?"

"You'll find him pretty familiar," Roxas said. "Other than that, you'll have to see for yourself."

_He sure is vague,_ Riku commented to himself. "Why don't we wait on the island over there?" he suggested, pointing to the old lopsided paopu tree. "We can always jump in the water to hide."

Roxas shook his head. "We still have time. You'll know when it's time to hide, trust me."

Heeding Roxas's words, the group waited patiently, sitting on the tree (or leaning against it, in Riku's case). It didn't take long before they heard voices.

"Score's ten to five now! I'm catching up!"

Riku flinched. That voice…it was too familiar to be true.

"You're only half-way!"

And so was that one.

Sora stared dumbly at the sea, twisting his pinkie finger in his ear. "What…you guys hearing anything weird?"

"Yep," Riku replied, standing and glancing at the beach. Two figures fought, but though they were too far away to make out, they were close enough to hear.

One of the figures fell. "Hey! That's cheating!"

"Nah, it's fair and square. You pulled the same stunt on me last time, remember?"

"Two wrongs don't make a right!"

"You ganna whine or get up and fight again?"

"Hey, if I can take down a thousand monsters at once, I think I can handle only one of you!"

"Then prove it!"

The clash continued. Riku looked on, smirking. "Man, doesn't that look kinda familiar, Sora?"

The brunette turned on the tree and examined the fight between the two people and nodded. "Yeah…it kinda does."

"What was that about fighting a thousand monsters?"

"Geez, do you ever go easy?"

"What are you talking about? I _was_ going easy, and so were you!"

"…yeah, I kinda was. If I did any harder, I'd really hurt you."

"I know. I save that for when we-"

"I'm ganna go see what the others are up to at the lagoon. I'll be right back, and we can have a rematch!"

"Fine, I'll go sit on the island and be lazy, like you."

"Hey! Who's the one that looked all over the place for you while you kept running away?"

"I dunno. You, maybe?"

"Do they get along?" Sora questioned.

Roxas laughed. "Like you'd never believe."

"Believing that is the hard part," Riku muttered as he observed. What was that one person going to say before the other cut him off?

Sighing, the lone figure made his way up to the dock and toward them. As he came closer, Riku became swiftly aware of two things. For one, this person looked more familiar than he thought. The other fact that came to mind was that his body was tingling all over. "Guys, I think our time is up."

Sora snapped to attention, staring at his hands. His fingertips were solid, and the opaque effect was spreading rapidly. "We've gatta hide!"

"No," Roxas replied. "This is the person I needed you to meet."

The boy was half-way down the docks now, and just catching the images of the people appearing. Though Roxas remained his transparent self (although he gained a bit more color to his form), Riku and Sora were solid, and the stranger came racing down, summoning a darkened blade in his hand resembling a stretched demon's wing. Angrily narrowed turquoise eyes gazed sternly at them, partially hidden by ragged silver hair, but the moment they fully materialized, the boy froze, his eyes widening. "What the…didn't you just…and you…you're…_what the hell_?!"

Sora and Riku could hardly believe what they were seeing. They knew the voices had been familiar, but seeing the person up close was another story. In fact, other than the longer hair and slightly different clothing, the boy looked exactly like…

Riku's jaw dropped. Sora's eyes bulged from his head, and he was the only one who managed to speak. "Wha…you're…_Riku_?!"


	12. Mirror Image

Okay, I won't lie; I got a pretty good laugh from some of the reviews of chapter eleven. Got you people good, didn't I? XD There's more Riku POV here.

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Twelve: Mirror Image**

* * *

Kairi gripped the bars of her cell tightly. What had she done to deserve this? Who was the man that had taken her? His voice was so familiar…

"They locked you up, too?"

The auburn-haired girl whipped around to find another person in her cell. This girl looked very much like herself, but she seemed a year or two younger, and had blonde hair brushed over one of her shoulders. Her dress was white, laced at the bottom, and cut quite short. Kairi tilted her head at the strangely familiar girl and nodded. "Yeah. Someone in black snuck into my room and took me."

"He was a Seeker," the girl explained, hugging a sketchbook to her chest. "They're a group of bad people bent on wielding darkness, but what they don't know is that it's controlling them."

"Seekers?" Kairi echoed. "But they died out centuries ago."

The girl shook her head. "Not really. They were nearly killed, but somehow they managed to create a time warp and they fled to our time. They've been waiting and planning for a while, but there's an enemy group trying to get rid of them again, so they're using us as bait to lure the Deserters close and finish them off."

Kairi's eyes widened. "We're…bait? How do you know all this?"

"Zexion told me," The girl whispered. "He was ordered to kill one of the Deserters a while ago, but when I saw him, there was something in his eyes…he didn't want to do it. So he left…and now he's a traitor to the Seekers. Right now, he's probably with the Deserters, giving them a warning about what Xemnas is planning. He also said that he'll try to get me out as soon as he gets back with the others."

"Who are you?" Kairi asked.

The girl looked at the ground, swallowing hard, and glanced back up. "My name…is Naminé."

* * *

Riku felt like he was looking in a mirror. Instead of seeing _himself_, however, he saw an _older version_ of himself. The fact that they both had the same expressions on their face would have been amusing had it not been for the fact that what they were here for was a serious matter. "The-this is…?"

"Who are you?!" The other Riku demanded, shoving his blade at Riku's throat.

"Calm down!" Sora cried. "We're not here to hurt anyone."

The other Riku spun around, eyes widening. "Wha…Sora? But I thought you just you just…"

Roxas chuckled. "I think an explanation is in order," he said. "Sora, Riku, I've taken you both to what's known as an 'alternate world.' Think of it as a parallel dimension if you want. You exist here the same way you exist in your own world, but with several differences."

"Alternate world?" Sora echoed. "I guess that makes sense."

"Roxas?" The other Riku said, eyes widening when he noticed the blonde. "I thought…wait a minute…_what_?"

"I'm not the Roxas you're familiar with, Riku," The former chaser explained. "And before you end up killing your counterpart here, I'll have you know that we're only asking for a bit of help, not trying to kill anyone."

After a moment of contemplation, the other Riku lowered his blade, staring at his silver-haired mirror image. "So you're from a parallel dimension or something?" he began.

"You're taking this pretty well," Sora commented.

Roxas nodded, continuing. "Yeah. In our dimension, there's a group of people called the Seekers trying to destroy the islands. In your world, you'd probably know them as Organization XIII, only the Seekers aren't Nobodies, they're whole people, and they've got the power of darkness to boot."

The other Riku's fists clenched. "Not them again…"

"So why'd you come here?" The other Riku asked, still suspicious. "If you're planning on dumping your problem on us, I'll have you know that we're not about to-"

"We're not dumping our problem on you," Roxas insisted. "To fight against darkness, we need to know how to use darkness. I was aware that you were capable of wielding it without it controlling you, so I decided to ask you for help, and I brought these two with me."

The other Riku froze hesitantly, his eyes narrowing. "How do you know about that?" he asked, his voice low.

There wasn't a chance to answer when another figure came running down the dock. "Riku! I just got back; the others are playing blitzball and I…whoa."

This time, it was Sora's turn to have a staring contest. An older version of Sora – with a lighter shade of hair and a black outfit rather than red – stared back, jaw dropped. Sora himself blinked. "Um…hi?"

"_This_ doesn't happen every day," the other Sora commented.

The other Riku shook his head. "No, it doesn't. And _you_ haven't answered my question. How did you know?"

"I have my ways," Roxas replied, looking away. "At any rate, we were hoping you could help us somehow. If we don't stop the Seekers, then we can all kiss Destiny Islands goodbye."

"You mean _your_ islands," the other Riku corrected. "This place is completely safe."

Roxas shook his head. "Not quite. All alternate worlds rely on each other to survive. If one goes, all the others go, too."

The other Riku bit his lip and looked away while the other Sora just scratched his head. "Um, would someone explain what's going on?"

Sora had the honors of speaking. He explained everything he knew: the war with the Seekers starting up again. How he was their lone target. How the Seekers would destroy the world just to be rid of him. Why they needed someone with the power of darkness to combat this enemy.

"This sounds _way_ too familiar," The other Sora muttered. "Why are they after _you_?"

Sora sighed, reaching forward without hesitation and summoning the keyblade. "Because of this."

Riku had expected the two to show surprise and ask what the object was. Instead, their eyes widened in recognition. "No way!" The other Riku cried. "Even in another world, Sora has the keyblade?!"

The brunette's eyes widened. "You have one, too?!"

"Indeed he does," Roxas said, cutting off Sora's surprise. "One thing remains different, however. While both Soras wield the same power, Riku and his own counterpart do not. Not _yet_, anyway. That's why we're here."

Riku's eyes widened at his name. "Wait a minute!" he cried, eyes narrowing in a mixture of denial and pride. "What's he got that I don't have!"

"Something that no one should have discovered in the first place," the other Riku said, walking toward the bridge and motioning everyone to follow. "Come on. If you need help that badly, I guess it wouldn't help to show you a few things."

"You'll help us?" Sora asked, eyes brightening and a smile spreading across his face.

The other Riku nodded, shoving a few strands of unruly silver hair out of his face. "It's the least I can do. I'd rather not have to watch this place get torn apart again."

* * *

"_Has anyone seen Xigbar?"_

"_Not me. He left a while ago; said something about chasing a few rabbits."_

"_Hmph. Sounds just like him."_

"_Any orders from the higher-ups?"_

"_Yeah. We've gatta move the girls somewhere else. They're interfering with the conjuration."_

"_Figures. I'll go take care of that right now."_

* * *

"I must be rubbing off on him," The other Sora chuckled, earning an odd look from Riku. "I'm usually the one that helps people without asking questions."

Riku shrugged. "Knowing him…me…whichever…he probably already knows what's going on and he's not about to change his mind."

"That's right," The other Riku replied, pausing on the beach. "I can't go back with you to help your world, though. I'm pretty sure that'd break about fifteen rules."

"You said it," The other Sora commented.

The other Riku nodded. "However, I _can_ tell you how to wield it. It's dangerous, but I'm sure you can do it, Riku."

Riku froze. "You're talking to _me_?" He questioned. "If this power is so dangerous, why should anyone be able to handle it? I'm really not sure…"

"If I can wield it, you can too," the other Riku said.

The other Sora winced. "But Riku…when you did it, you…"

He was cut off. "The only reason that happened was because Xehanort's Heartless was still troubling me. I'm sure _he_ hasn't gone through anything remotely close to that."

_Do I even want to know what he's referring to?_

The other Riku approached, pulling out a strip of black cloth from his pocket and handing it to Riku. "Put this on."

At the sight of the cloth, the other Sora stared. "You…still have that?"

"The king told me I might need it again," The other Riku explained. "I just didn't know which 'me' he was referring to."

Riku took the black cloth, staring at it in his hands for a moment. "Wha…what is it?"

"A blindfold."

Upon hearing the phrase, Riku nearly hurled it back at his otherworldly counterpart. "Are you _nuts_? How is this supposed to _help_?"

The other Riku rolled his eyes, approached, and took the strip from him. "Here, let me do it. You'll understand." He tied the black strip directly over Riku's eyes, tight enough so that he couldn't take it off, but loose to where he didn't feel restricted by it and he could lift it off of one eye if he had to.

"What's this supposed to teach me?" Riku grumbled. "I can't see a thing."

"Precisely," The other Riku replied. "That's what darkness is. If you can manage to put up a fight without having to rely on what you _see_, then you won't have a single problem with using the darkness."

Riku stiffened. "W-Wait! What do you mean put up a fight?"

"Relax. I'm not going to fight you. What you need to do is focus."

"Er…on what?"

"Darkness. Focus on the darkness."

Deciding to heed his counterpart's words, Riku squeezed his eyes shut – even though he couldn't see anything anyway – and directed all of his attention to the vast black that surrounded him. Slowly, the sounds of the beach began to fade, and all that mattered was the darkness. It wasn't a new sensation to him – meditating in his martial arts class was quite similar – but it was much more intense than simply contemplating something.

And suddenly he could hear and feel everything. The wind blowing past him, the waves washing up on shore, the trees creaking as they waved in the breeze, and even Sora's breathing from however far away he was. What really caught him off guard, however, was his sense of smell. He felt like someone had finally turned his nose on. A single whiff of the air told him everything he could have seen with his eyes: Sora's anxiety, the other Sora's more intense anxiety, the other Riku's stern gaze, and the faint scent of Roxas's calm observation.

He also caught the scent of an incoming projectile.

Riku stood and ran, diving at Sora and pushing him aside. He missed by a few inches and only caught the boy with one arm rather than a full-body tackle, but the action served its purpose and the bolt passed harmlessly by, only barely scratching Riku's back. Another scent reached his nostrils. One, two, three lights at once, brandished in the air. Two belonged to the counterparts, while the other had been unwillingly been summoned by Sora. _Probably the keyblades,_ Riku assumed, spinning and gazing in the direction of the bolt, even though he couldn't see anything. "Who's there?" Sora cried.

"Have you been a _good boy_, Sora?"

The sound of the voice made Riku grit his teeth. It was one of the men that had attacked them at the blitzball game! "You! What're _you_ doing here?!"

"Now, do you _really_ think that's polite, shutting me down like that? I'm only here to pass on a message. It'd be boring if I had to kill you _here_."

"I know that voice!" The other Sora muttered. "Xigbar!"

"Whoa, man! I'm seein' double! There's two of both of ya?"

"I thought we got rid of you already!" The other Sora insisted.

"As _if_!" Xigbar, as he was apparently named, responded. "I'm from the _alternate_ world. Don't want nothin' to do with _this_ scrap of sand."

"Speak for yourself," The other Riku protested. "Your world looks exactly the same as this one, in case you didn't remember."

"Oopsie-daisy, looks like I forgot that detail."

"Why don't you pull your hood back and quit hiding like a coward?" Sora shouted, fists clenched.

There was a familiar clicking sound, and Riku knew the man was pointing a gun at them. "Or I could give you a five minute head start to get back to your own world before I waste you _all_. Not that you would actually _get_ five minutes." The man laughed. "After all, you always were pretty bad at math, Sora Kagi."

Sora gasped. "No…Mr. Braig is a Seeker, too?!"

"That's _right_," Braig replied, smirking and combining both of his handguns into a long sniper rifle. "Now, then, let's see how ya dance!"


	13. The Freeshooter

I LIVE! Not that this fic is popular or anything... I'm sorry for my absence folks, but I was on a roll with another one of my fics. Here I am though, updating some of my old ones. Enjoy!

Summary: AU. Sora has always found himself enchanted by the old temple. When he hears that no one's ever been inside and takes it upon himself to explore within, he finds out that the legend of the Keyblade is no mere myth, and history is about to repeat itself...

**More Than A Legend**

**By FlikFreak**

**Chapter Thirteen: The Freeshooter**

* * *

"_Sir, the boy and his friend are nowhere to be found. We believe that the traitor may have hidden them."_

"_No, they are not hidden, Vexen. Roxas has taken them somewhere beyond the Corridor of Light, and Xigbar has followed them."_

"_The Corridor of Light…?"_

"_Yes. We cannot be sure when they will return, but that is of no importance. Are the preparations ready?"_

"_Almost, sir. We're putting the finishing touches on now, so to speak."_

"_Very good. Once you are through, send someone to check on the girls…"_

* * *

Sora could hardly believe what he was witnessing. So many people he knew and had dealt with every day were his enemies. His history teacher, his math teacher, Riku's sensei… Larxene had been right. No one could be trusted.

A barrage of crossbow bolts snapped him from his daze and he jumped to the side, the other Sora with him and both Rikus on the other. More of the bolts came tearing through the air toward Sora, but there was no time to run. His counterpart leapt in front of him, summoning a shield of hexagons around both of them that lasted a hood half second. It sent the bullets going right back where they came from and prevented any harm from coming to the would-be victims.

Xigbar gave a yelp when he found his weapon being used against him and vanished, reappearing closer and standing upside-down in midair. "Clever little sneak," he grumbled. "You're as slippery here as you were at home."

"And you're as slow there as you were here!" The other Riku added, sending several blackened fireballs to Xigbar and knocking him back a few feet.

The former math teacher was quick to retaliate, sending an enormous, glowing projectile toward them. The other Sora was quick to react, parrying the strike with his keyblade and sending it slamming back into his opponent. Riku pitched in, hurling a sudden flurry of black fireballs at Xigbar. The other Riku did the same, and the sniper was knocked out of the air, falling to the ground with a loud gasp. Taking the chance, Sora made his way forward at an incredible speed, brandishing the keyblade and swatting aside any bullets that came his way. He leapt into the air, stabbing downward as he made his way to his enemy.

He didn't miss.

With a hoarse mutter, Xigbar sneered. "No wonder he chose you," he remarked, even as he began to fade away. "But you're nothing compared to Xemnas."

The other Sora approached, hands clenched and ready to make a threat, but he didn't have to. Xigbar said nothing more, and evaporated entirely. Once he was gone, Sora suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion, cued by shock and fatigue, fall over him and he fell to his knees. _Why…why are they…_

Roxas approached, biting his lip. "It shouldn't have come to this. If I had managed to divert them, they would never have-"

"It's not your fault," Sora insisted. "Don't beat yourself up over it."

"What're you going to do?" The other Sora asked.

Sora narrowed his eyes in determination. "I'm really not sure. If I take down the Seekers, then everyone will be safe. I guess that's what I have to do now."

"We can't go with you," Riku's counterpart said, crossing his arms. "It's against the rules, you could say. But we can wish you the best of luck."

Riku chuckled nervously. "We're going to need it."

The other Riku grinned. "By the way, can I have my bandanna back?"

"Oh…" Riku hurriedly took off the blindfold and gave it back to his counterpart. "Here. Sorry."

"Good luck to you too," The other Riku continued, smirking. "Say hi to Kairi for me."

Sora's jaw dropped. "Wh…there's a Kairi here, too?"

The other Sora looked away, biting his lip furiously. Riku grinned, tugging his friend along. "Come on. Let's go save the planet, _then_ we can worry about that."

"But Kairi…"

"Come _on_, lover boy."

"What did you just call me?!"

Everyone began laughing – even Roxas – as Sora put on his best pouting face. _This is _so_ not fair. At all._

* * *

Kairi clutched the bars of her cell. At this point, she wasn't sure whether or not she should want to be taken out or left in. No one wanted to be captive in a place like this, but if those cloaked men were going to be using her…

Footsteps approached and Kairi scampered to the back of the cell. Naminé remained completely calm as a tall man stopped and quietly observed them. It took Kairi only moments to recognize the long, braided black hair and the sideburns…the narrow eyes… She blinked. "Mister Dilan?"

The man grinned. "Actually, it's Xaldin," he replied. "Are you enjoying your stay, Kairi?"

Kairi was shocked. "How…but you're…it's not…"

"Being a teacher was quite a hassle," Xaldin continued, scoffing, "But necessary if we were to accomplish our goals. We had just found a way around the barrier in the Temple of Light when your friend Sora took what we were searching for…and now he intends to use it against us."

"Sora?" Kairi echoed. "What are you going to do with him?"

Xaldin grinned. "Nothing yet. We will have to dispose of him eventually, however. And for that, we need bait. In other words…" he leaned in. "…you."

She backed away. _No…he's in danger because of me…_

"Oh don't worry. We won't hurt _you_. Just him. As for Naminé here…"

Naminé's expression stiffened, and she didn't say a word. Xaldin smirked before he walked off. "Enjoy your freedom while you can, ladies."

_He calls _this_ freedom? I have to get out of here…Sora, he'll…_

"Don't worry," Naminé said, as though reading Kairi's thoughts. "Sora will be fine, and we'll get out, too."

"How do you know?" Kairi asked.

Naminé only smiled.

* * *

After a few last goodbyes, Roxas led Sora and Riku back through the Corridor of Light and into their original home world. The deserters were waiting for them in the cavern, but like before, they couldn't be noticed until the effects of the light wore off. Instead they sat near the door, careful not to upset too much dirt. Larxene was standing nearest to the entrance, kunai in one hand and a dirty glare toward outside in case anyone came in. Axel was leaning against the cavern wall, and Marluxia had crossed his arms and stood nearby. Zexion…Ienzo, Sora corrected himself…was sitting next to Demyx, whom was playing his Sitar. The meledy was soothing and calm, and he could hear the young man singing along.

"He always was good at that," Roxas mused quietly. Sora nodded in agreement.

Ienzo was the first to notice the effects of the corridor wearing off. Demyx followed his gaze and ceased playing. "You're back," The sitarist said. "How'd it go?"

Roxas scowled. "We had a run-in with Xigbar," he said plainly. "He's out of the way now."

"Where'd you take them, anyway?" Larxene asked.

Riku and Sora exchanged glances, and Roxas simply grinned. "Nowhere too unfamiliar."

Axel apparently knew what Roxas was referring to and snickered, but everyone else remained baffled.

"There are still other Seekers to worry about," Marluxia said, standing. "And Xemnas will be starting up the storm at any moment. We don't have time to chat."

Roxas gave a long sigh. "Time for me to get going, then."

"You can't be leaving!" Axel exclaimed. "I only just now got to see you again!"

"Yeah!" Sora chimed in. "Why do you have to go?"

Roxas closed his eyes. "I don't belong here anymore. I only stayed to help give you a push in the right direction." He turned. "However, I will leave you with a parting gift. Hopefully it'll be of some use to you." He held out his hand.

Sora hesitated, his fingers twitching when he stared at Roxas's offered palm. Tentatively, he reached out, swallowing nervously, and took the boy's hand. Immediately, he doubled over in shock.

Suddenly, Sora heard everything. The wood in the trees creaking outside, the wind in the tunnel, the grains of sand tumbling in the slight breeze, the other Deserters breathing (Demyx, however, was holding his breath and doing a pretty good job of it)…he even heard the sound of them _blinking their eyes._ Sora clutched his head for a moment; it was a bit much for him to take in within a split second. "Urgh…"

"Stop!" Someone cried. "You're overloading his senses!"

"Hang on. He's almost done."

And then Sora heard even _more_. Voices, countless voices crying out to him. He clamped his hands over his ears in attempt to stop them, but they only got louder. More voices came, some in tempting whispers, others crying out in pain, some whimpering in sorrow. The hum of voices softened after a few moments, all collecting into one unanimous plea for aid.

A plea that Sora had every intent of heeding.

Standing with difficulty, Sora rubbed his eyes and looked around to find that Roxas was nowhere to be seen. Riku placed a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. "Just kinda took me by surprise. Where's Roxas?"

"Gone," Ienzo replied. "He used the last of his power to give you what he could."

Sora bit his lip. All that for him…did this responsibility really rest on his shoulders? Suddenly everything seemed so surreal to him, and he had to hold his head for a moment to gather his thoughts. _What should I do?_ He began to wonder. _What _can_ I do?_

He was answered by a roar of thunder from outside. Attention caught, Sora raced out of the cave, followed closely by Riku and the other Deserters. In the sky was a large sphere crackling with dark energy, an empty light swirling within it. The voices cried out in Sora's heart, pleading him all the more urgently. It was then that he knew what he had to do.

"You ready?" Axel asked, summoning his chakrams in a burst of flame.

Sora tightened his grip on the keyblade. "It's now or never. Let's go."


End file.
